Daily Times

Sir: USA’s recent tilt towards India reflects their thinking that India would serve as a more dependable ally than Pakistan. India is unlikely to truncate all its relations with Russia to live up to American expectations.

According to deputy director of the Russian Centre for Analysis of Strategies and Technologies Konstantin Makienko, India buys about 75 per cent of its arms and ammunition from Russia.

During 2015, Russia exported US$ 4 billion worth of arms and military equipment to India. In 2016, India signed defence contracts worth about US $2 billion with Russia. In 2017, Indian orders for Russian arms exceeded US $4 billion. India has refused to stall its imports from Russia. As such, USA has no option but to exempt India from scope of Countering America’s Adversaries through Sanctions Act.

USA wants India to end its military cooperation with Russia. But India has so far abandoned only one joint project to develop a fifth-generation jet fighter. Trumps policies have led to a resurgence of Russia in international affairs. Russia has the largest reservoirs of every single mineral known to mankind. It is the largest exporter of petroleum to Europe. It produces over 10 percent of the world’s aluminium output. Russian Lake Baikal alone contains 20 per cent of the planets entire fresh water. It has a third of the world’s forests and timber.

China, Pakistan and Russia could coalesce to forge a formidable front against American hegemony. America should read the writing on the wall.

DJ MALIK

Rawalpindi

Published in Daily Times, August 14^th 2018.