NEW DELHI – India is expected to convey to the US during the upcoming’two-plus-two’ talks that it is going ahead with the Rs 40,000 crore dealwith Russia to procure a batch of S-400 Triumf air defence missile systems,notwithstanding the American sanctions on military transactions withMoscow, official sources said Sunday.
They said India is likely to seek a waiver from the Trump administrationfor the mega deal, citing its requirement for the missile system in thewake of the evolving regional security architecture as well as consideringits close defence ties with Russia.
“India has almost concluded the S-400 missile deal with Russia, and we aregoing ahead with it. Our position on the issue will be conveyed to the US,”said a high-level official source.
The US has imposed military sanctions against Russia under the stringentCAATSA (Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act) law for itsannexation of Crimea as well as alleged meddling in the Americanpresidential election in 2016.
CAATSA mandates the Donald Trump administration to punish entities andcountries engaging in significant transaction with the defence orintelligence establishment of Russia. Randall Schriver, the Pentagon’ssenior official handling issues relating to Asia, said Thursday that the UScannot guarantee that India will be exempted from sanctions if it purchasesweapons and defence systems from Russia.
The US has been indicating that it does not want India to finalise the dealwith Russia.
A new US defence legislation authorises President Donald Trump to exemptcountries from the military sanctions.
The first edition of the much-awaited 2+2 dialogue on strategic affairsbetween the US and India will take place here on September 6 during which arange of bilateral, regional and global issues of mutual interests will bediscussed.
Under the new framework finalised last year, External Affairs MinisterSushma Swaraj and Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will hold talks withSecretary of State Mike R Pompeo and Secretary of Defence James Mattis fromthe US.
The sources said India will push for a waiver from the US for the missiledeal with Russia, as the air defence system was critical for its securitypreparedness.
They said there was a possibility that both Russia and India are likely toannounce the deal before the annual summit between prime minister Modi andRussian President Vladimir Putin in October.
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.
India wants to procure the long-range missile systems to tighten its airdefence mechanism, particularly along the nearly 4,000-km-long Sino-Indiaborder. S-400 is known as Russia’s most advanced long-range surface-to-airmissile defence system.