Presumably the Chinese will not be too happy at Russia doing these arms deals with India. Despite the SCO I expect the Russians are wary of China and they’ve traditionally had good relations with India. I fully expect the US to try and build up India as a counterweight to the Chinese
@Robert: you are absolutely correct, even though the Chinese being realists they realize that this latest lease is only one part of a much bigger program (think PAKFA T-50 here, or further purchase of SU-30MKIs here). India is simply too huge a market for Russia to ignore and I think that the Chinese will have to accept that.
Presumably the Chinese will not be too happy at Russia doing these arms deals with India. Despite the SCO I expect the Russians are wary of China and they’ve traditionally had good relations with India. I fully expect the US to try and build up India as a counterweight to the Chinese
@Robert: you are absolutely correct, even though the Chinese being realists they realize that this latest lease is only one part of a much bigger program (think PAKFA T-50 here, or further purchase of SU-30MKIs here). India is simply too huge a market for Russia to ignore and I think that the Chinese will have to accept that.