India may deploy Russian S-400 missiles to defend itself against Pakistan and China, the Pentagon claims

During a congressional hearing, the Pentagon’s top intelligence official stated that India plans to deploy the Russian-made S-400 missile defense system by next month to defend itself against Pakistani and Chinese threats as part of an extensive military modernization effort encompassing air, ground, naval, and strategic nuclear forces.

During a recent Congressional hearing, Lieutenant General Scott Berrier, Director of the Defence Intelligence Agency, told members of the Senate Armed Services Committee that India began receiving the S-400 missile defense system from Russia in December last year. 

India’s military was looking to buy advanced surveillance

India’s military was looking to buy advanced surveillance equipment in October 2021 in order to fortify its land and maritime borders and improve its offensive and defensive cyber capabilities.

“India received its first supply of the Russian S-400 air defense system in December, and it plans to deploy the system by June 2022 to guard against Pakistani and Chinese threats,” Mr. Berrier added.

“In 2021, India conducted many tests on its own hypersonic, ballistic, cruise, and air defense missile capabilities.” India is increasing the number of satellites in orbit and boosting its use of space assets, indicating that it is pursuing offensive space capabilities,” he said.

Mr. Berrier told the senators that New Delhi is working on a large-scale military modernization program that includes air, ground, naval, and strategic nuclear forces, with a focus on the domestic defense industry.

India is making moves to establish Integrated Theatre Commands, which will help the country’s three armed services work together more effectively.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has made growing India’s domestic military

Since 2019, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has made growing India’s domestic military industry a priority, as well as establishing a negative import list to limit defense purchases from international providers.

“India’s long-standing defense cooperation with Russia has remained robust, with the two countries holding their first ‘2+2’ format discussions in December – a joint foreign and defense ministerial meeting that India had previously only conducted with the US, Japan, and Australia.”

Mr. Berrier told the legislators, “India has maintained a neutral posture on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and continues to appeal for peace.”

Mr. Berrier claims that throughout 2021, New Delhi pursued a foreign policy aimed at demonstrating India’s place as a leading force and net security provider in the Indian Ocean region.

India seeks strategic relationships to enhance influence through bilateral and multilateral platforms such as the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), he added, in order to foster prosperity and stability in the Indo-Pacific region.

Mr. Berrier stated, “New Delhi aspires to strengthen intelligence and operational collaboration on cybersecurity, defend vital information infrastructure, prevent adversary public opinion manipulation, and establish rules and norms that preserve and secure data governance.”

New Delhi is increasingly concerned about prospective strikes on India by Pakistan-based terrorist organizations such as Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Mohammed, which are aided by a Taliban-controlled Afghanistan, he said.

According to him, the withdrawal of Indian forces from Afghanistan harmed the country’s ability to monitor prospective threats and exert influence over regional peace.

Despite recommitting to the 2003 truce, India remains prepared to respond to perceived militant threats, and counterterrorism operations in Kashmir have continued, according to Mr. Berrier.

“Occasional skirmishes between Indian and Pakistani troops will persist, and a high-profile attack in India by Pakistan-based terrorists threatens a military reaction from India,” he warned.

Mr. Berrier stated that relations between China and India are still strained following tragic accidents between their respective armies along the Line of Actual Control in the summer of 2020. (LAC). Both parties had many rounds of high-level diplomatic and military talks in 2021, which culminated in a mutual withdrawal of soldiers from several stalemate points.

Mr. Berrier noted that both sides have close to 50,000 troops, artillery, tanks, and multiple rocket launchers, and both are building infrastructure along the LAC.

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