Turkey defiant on buying S-400, India hopeful of US waiver

ANKARA/NEW DELHI: Amid worsening US-Turkey relations which has roiled the country’s economy, Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has underlined that Ankara will go ahead with procuring Russian S-400 missile system, which is opposed by the US. Mr Erdogan’s remarks at a graduation ceremony for military officers came amid Ankara’s widening rift with Washington and the European Union. The Turkish leader added that Turkey would procure the F-35 fighter jets elsewhere if the United States halts the delivery of the jets. Turkey-US relations took a sharp plunge after the US imposed sanctions against Ankara earlier this month to force the release of a US pastor who is accused of taking part in a failed 2016 military coup. India hopeful  The US has also opposed India’s plan to buy the S-400 surface-to-air missiles, but New Delhi is hopeful that Washington will find a way to grant an exemption to India in view of robust strategic relations between the two countries. The S-400 issue will figure prominently at the inaugural 2+2 dialogue between the foreign and defence ministers of India and the US in New Delhi on September 6. “Given huge strategic stakes the US has in scaling up strategic relations with India and Washington’s larger strategic agenda of containing an assertive China in the region, President Trump is likely to  figure out a diplomatic plan to exempt India from sanctions connected with S-400 system. This will be one of key outcomes at the forthcoming 2+2 dialogue,” said Manish Chand, Editor-in-Chief, India and World, an influential magazine focused  on international affairs. The US Congress has already passed the National Defense Authorisation Act-2019, which amends the Combating America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA), which seeks to punish Russia for the 2016 election meddling.