India is set to deploy Russian-made man-portable air defense systems, or MANPADs, along its disputed border with China, even as Moscow and Beijing reaffirm their shared opposition against common adversaries in the West.
"The Igla-S systems are under procurement for the new authorized air defense formations for high mountainous terrain along the northern border," Indian news outlet The Print reported on Monday.
The Indian army first began using the Soviet-designed MANPADS in 2021. New Delhi is acquiring more of the shoulder-fired missiles amid a four-year military standoff with Beijing, which began after the deadly Galwan Valley skirmish in June 2020.
Since then, the two Asian giants have stationed thousands of soldiers at the Line of Actual Control. The de facto boundary in the Himalayas has separated India and China since a bloody border war in the 1960s.
Leaders in Russia and China have further strengthened their countries' strategic partnership in recent years amid heavy scrutiny since the start of the Russia-Ukraine war two years ago.
The United States recently told its NATO allies that Beijing's material support for Moscow was growing to significant levels, although Chinese officials say the country remains a neutral party.
The Stockholm International Peace Research Insitute, a Swedish think tank, said Russia was India's biggest source of defense imports last year, accounting for 36 percent of all arms purchases, according to a March report.
Despite that, however, the period from 2019-2023 was the first time since 1960-1964 that Russia's arms sales accounted for less than half of India's overall imports, SIPRI said.
Weapons manufactured by China and India have been found on the battlefields of the ongoing conflict in Ukraine. Igla-S MANPADS also have been used by Ukrainian forces to shoot down Russian aircraft.
The Russian and Chinese foreign ministries and the Indian External Affairs Ministry did not immediate respond to separate written requests for comment before publication.
India's upcoming deployment of Igla-S systems to its border with China, despite Beijing's friendship with Moscow, suggests the Kremlin leadership is unable to dictate terms on weapons sales, subject matter experts believe.
"The general public is not privy to the actual terms of the contract, but over the years, the general impression is that Russia does not impose any preconditions on the use of its weapons," said Nandan Unnikrishnan, a distinguished fellow at the Observer Research Foundation think tank in New Delhi and the former Moscow bureau chief of the Press Trust of India news agency.
"So far Russia-China relations haven't visibly impacted the India-Russia defense partnership," Unnikrishnan told Newsweek.
India recently sold the BrahMos missile system, jointly developed with Russia, to the Philippines, a U.S. treaty ally locked in a territorial dispute with China.
The Philippines will deploy land-based and anti-ship variants of the missile system along its coastline to counter Beijing's assertiveness in the South China Sea.
"As the world's fastest supersonic cruise missiles, the BrahMos missiles will provide deterrence against any attempt to undermine our sovereignty and sovereign rights, especially in the West Philippine Sea," Delfin Lorenzana, the Phillippines' former defense minister, said one year ago, referring to the section of the South China Sea that falls within the Philippines exclusive economic zone.
Christopher Clary, an associate professor at the State University of New York, told Newsweek that India may worry about China's leverage over Russia and its future implications.
"I've seen little evidence Russia seeks to censor the arms it makes available to India in order to appease their Chinese partner. Yet India must be concerned that in the event of a serious China-India conflict, Beijing would put enormous pressure on Russia to halt spares and ammunition destined to India," Clary said.
"Even with acquisitions like [the Igla-S], what remains an open question is whether India will invest in sufficient munitions to fight a long war. The war in Ukraine showcases how expensive and exhausting long wars can be," Clary added.
Uncommon Knowledge
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
About the writer
Aadil Brar is a reporter for Newsweek based in Taipei, Taiwan. He covers international security, U.S.-China relations, and East Asian ... Read more
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