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Foreign Ministry: India "clearly" conveyed its requirement of S-400 to US

10 July 2019 18:09 (UTC +04:00)

A day ahead of tough trade negotiation with the US, the Indian foreign ministry stated it will go ahead with the purchase of S-400 air missile defence system with Russia, APA reports citing Sputnik.

V. Muraleedharan, India's Minister of State of External Affairs said the requirement of the missile defence system has been conveyed to the US several times including US Secretary of Secretary Mike Pompeo's recent visit to New Delhi.

"Government keeps a constant watch on all developments having a bearing on India’s security and takes all necessary measures to safeguard it. Our requirement for the S-400 system has been clearly conveyed to the U.S. side," the minister said.

He was replying on the threat of ban posed by the Donald Trump administration on $5.43 billion deal with Russia. The deal was signed during Russian President Vladimir Putin's two-day visit to India.

The contract for the supply of the Russian S-400 long range surface to air missile system to India was concluded in October 2018.

The Trump administration has threatened India with sanctions under the Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA) if it decides to go ahead with the purchase.

CAATSA requires the imposition of certain sanctions on persons/entities that have knowingly engaged in a “significant transaction” with the defence or intelligence sectors of Russia. The U.S. Department of State will determine whether a transaction is “significant” for purposes of section 231 of CAATSA on a case-by-case basis.

Earlier this week, Russia's Deputy Director of the Federal Service for Military-Technical Cooperation (FSMTC) Vladimir Drozhzhov told reporters Moscow was hoping to receive an advance payment for S-400 air defence systems from India by 2019-end so that the deliveries may begin in 2020 and be completed by 2025.