Indian arms market heats up as a US-Russia battleground

Billions are at stake and 'nobody has any idea how this is going to play out'

20200326 S-400 Triumph air defence missile system

India and Russia have a $5 billion deal for Russian S-400 missile systems like this one, but the U.S. could fire back with sanctions. © AP

DIMITRI SIMES, Contributing writer

March 27, 2020 12:18 JST

MOSCOW -- The U.S. and Russia are stepping up a battle for arms contracts in the lucrative Indian market, creating an awkward geopolitical triangle with unpredictable consequences.

As the world focused on the coronavirus pandemic last week, Russia revealed that India would purchase an additional 400 T-90S tanks. Dmitry Shugayev, head of the Russian Federal Service for Military and Technical Cooperation, added that there was a "high probability" India would soon order a new batch of MiG-29 fighters and finalize a contract for a short-range air defense system as well.