Putin Holds Surprise Meeting with Modi the Day Before Talks with Biden (Comprehensive)

Rus-India Sign Military Technology Agreement
India Accelerates S-400 Acquisition...Concerns Over US Sanctions

"Is Biden watching"...Putin flies to India, meets with Modi=
Narendra Modi (right), Prime Minister of India, shakes hands with Vladimir Putin (left), President of Russia, who visited the country, before their annual summit in the capital New Delhi on the 6th (local time). Local media reported that the two leaders agreed to expand cooperation in various fields including defense and economy. New Delhi (India) = Reuters · Yonhap News
Photo by Reuters and Yonhap News

Russian President Vladimir Putin visited India and held a summit with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, during which the two countries signed a military technology agreement. President Putin's surprise visit is interpreted as a demonstration of close ties with India, just one day before his virtual meeting with U.S. President Joe Biden.

India, a key member of the Quad?a military alliance aimed at countering China?has recently grown closer to the United States. However, it has maintained a strategic partnership with Russia since the Soviet era and is regarded as pursuing a neutral diplomatic stance between the U.S. and Russia. With this summit expected to accelerate India's acquisition of Russia's S-400 missile defense system, concerns are rising over potential diplomatic friction with the U.S., which has imposed sanctions on countries purchasing the S-400.

According to foreign media including CNN on the 6th (local time), Presidents Putin and Modi held their summit at Hyderabad House, the official residence of the Indian Prime Minister in New Delhi. The two leaders signed a military technology agreement valid until 2030 and agreed to increase bilateral trade to approximately $30 billion annually by 2025.

In a joint statement released after the summit, the two leaders reaffirmed their commitment to strengthening defense cooperation, including jointly developing military equipment.

Following the summit, a ‘2+2 meeting’ involving the defense and foreign ministers of both countries was held. The Russian side emphasized that India has decided to import over 600,000 units of the Russian-made AK-203 assault rifle and that the Indian government will continue to receive shipments of Russia’s S-400 air defense missile system, which it purchased in 2018, starting this month.

With the announcement of the military technology agreement, the pace of India’s S-400 acquisition is expected to quicken, heightening concerns about diplomatic tensions with the U.S. Since joining the Quad, India has consistently emphasized its neutral position as a strategic partner to both the U.S. and Russia, asserting that it can purchase weapons from any country depending on its security environment.

However, the U.S. government has repeatedly hinted at possible sanctions and demanded that India halt the S-400 acquisition. Under the ‘Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act’ enacted during the Trump administration in 2017, the U.S. can impose sanctions on countries purchasing weapons from adversaries such as Russia. The U.S. previously imposed sanctions on Turkey, which was the first country to acquire the S-400 system.