The U.S. is interested in making strong military ties with India but made it obvious that Washington is against any country that is going to purchase Russian military equipment in future, including the S-400 Air Defense that is, in U.S opinion, designed to counter Lockheed Martin Corp’s sophisticated F-35 stealth fighter jet.
The statement by a lead Pentagon official came after a question about India going ahead with its decision to purchase the S-400 Air Defence system from Moscow as India signed a deal with Russia last October for the procurement of a 1st batch of the S-400 defense systems at INR 40,000 crore.
“Our defense partnership with India I think is strong and we’re looking to make it even stronger,” David J Trachtenberg, the deputy undersecretary of defense for policy, told reporters at a news conference on Wednesday.
When asked about Washington’s relation with New Delhi, which is moving forward with a decision to procure the S-400 system, Trachtenberg said, “I think the message we are sending is that we want to make sure that other countries are not purchasing equipment that is designed to counter our sophisticated fifth-generation aircraft.”
“The other message we’re sending is that we are consistent in our approach on this.”
Trachtenberg’s comments came a day later when President Donald Trump has announced that Washington would not sell the F-35 fighter jets to Ankara after it bought the S-400 missile system from Moscow.
Trachtenberg said America’s decision to unhook Turkey’s participation in the F-35 program was no surprise as its concerns had repeatedly been communicated to the Turkish government.
“Our reaction today is a specific response to a specific event. It is separate and distinct from the broader range of security interests where the United States and Turkey work together against common threats,” he said.
The official said that military ties between the two countries remained strong. He added that the US would continue to participate with Turkey in bilateral and multilateral exercises, as well as stay connected with Turkey on a broad range of NATO issues.