India-Russia rapport: Trump fails to weaken ties between old allies

INDIA is in no mood to scale down its engagement with Russia despite relentless US pressure. The government-owned Hindustan Aeronautics Limited has signed a pact with Russia’s Public Joint Stock Company United Aircraft Corporation, a company sanctioned by the US, to manufacture SJ-100 jets in India. The initiative is expected to spur Aatmanirbharta in the civil aviation sector and give a fillip to India’s ambition of becoming an aerospace manufacturing hub. Beyond the aviation push, the deal highlights New Delhi’s pragmatic approach of maintaining strategic ties with Moscow — even if it irks Washington. In a similar vein, Indian Oil Corporation and other Indian oil firms may not completely halt the purchase of Russian crude. The recent US sanctions have a loophole: they target specific Russian suppliers, not oil itself. This implies that crude aggregation from fields in Russia can be carried out by non-sanctioned entities, allowing supplies to continue. This arrangement suits India as well as Russia, diminishing the impact of the punitive curbs.

Grudgingly, US President Donald Trump seems to have accepted that it’s hard to browbeat India into toeing his line on Russia. Hinting at an early trade deal, he has called Prime Minister Narendra Modi the “nicest-looking guy” who is “tough as hell”. The praise doesn’t necessarily mean that Trump will stop testing India’s mettle, but it does reflect his trademark transactional diplomacy. He wants to put the long-delayed trade deal back on track, even as his oft-repeated boast about orchestrating the India-Pakistan ceasefire has no takers in the Modi government.

India has done well to avoid getting provoked by Trump’s blow-hot-blow-cold tactics. New Delhi is looking at the larger picture, where Moscow occupies pride of place, but it is also not averse to stabilising economic ties with Washington. The immediate aim should be to secure much-needed relief on the tariff front — without making major concessions.