NEW DELHI – India has concluded price negotiations with Russia for a nearlyRs 40,000 crore deal to procure S-400 Triumf air defence missile systemsfor the Indian Air Force, officials said.
They said the two countries are now trying to find a way out to evade theprovisions of a US law that seeks to punish countries and entities engagedin transactions with the defence or intelligence establishment of Russia.
“The negotiations for the missile deal have been concluded. The financialcomponent has been finalised,” a top official involved in the negotiationsfor the deal with Russia told PTI.
The official said both Russia and India are likely to announce the dealbefore an annual summit between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and RussianPresident Vladimir Putin in October.
Two other officials said both sides are now looking at ways to insulate thedeal from the sanctions announced by the US against Russia under itsCountering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA).The issueis understood to have figured during Modi’s informal talks with Putin inSochi last week.
There has been mounting concerns in India over the US sanctions againstRussian defence majors including Rosoboronexport as billions of dollars ofmilitary purchases may be impacted because of the punitive measure.
The US had announced sanctions against Russia under the stringent law forits alleged meddling in the American presidential election in 2016.
CAATSA, which came into effect in January, mandates the Donald Trumpadministration to punish entities engaging in significant transaction withthe defence or intelligence establishment of Russia.
US Defence Secretary Jim Mattis last month appealed to the Congress tourgently provide India the national security waiver, saying imposingsanctions under CAATSA for the S-400 air defence missile deal would onlyhit the US.India wants to procure the long-range missile systems to tightenits air defence mechanism, particularly along the nearly 4,000-km-longSino-India border.
In 2016, India and Russia had signed an agreement on the ‘Triumf’interceptor-based missile system which can destroy incoming hostileaircraft, missiles and even dronesat ranges of up to 400 km. S-400 is knownas Russia’s most advanced long-range surface-to-air missile defence system.
China was the first foreign buyer to seal a government-to-government dealwith Russia in 2014 to procure the lethal missile system and Moscow hasalready started delivery of unknown number of the S-400 missile systems toBeijing.
The S-400 is an upgraded version of the S-300 systems. The missile system,manufactured by Almaz-Antey, has been in service in Russia since 2007.