India, Russia To Conclude S-400 Deal At Annual Summit Strengthening Delhi's Missile Defence System
The value of the contract will be more than $5 billion
NEW DELHI: Russian on Tuesday announced that Russian President Vladimir Putin and PM Narendra Modi following their annual summit will oversee the signing of over $ 5 billion deal this Friday to supply Delhi with S-400 air defence systems bolstering India's defence along the country's borders with Pakistan and China.
"The president is leaving for India on October 4," Putin's top foreign policy aide Yury Ushakov told reporters in Moscow, adding that he would oversee the signing of the agreement. "The value of the contract will be more than $5 billion."
ET had first reported that the two sides are likely to conclude deal at the annual summit which will probably biggest takeaway from this visit of Putin to India. Over 10 pacts in the civilian sector including investments in infrastructure sector and number of defence pacts will be signed at the summit.
India had said that it will go ahead with the acquisition of the missiles from Russia despite reservations from the US.
A US law called CAATSA (Countering America's Adversaries through Sanctions Act) seeks to deter countries from buying Russian weapons and Washington even sanctioned China recently for acquiring S400 systems.
India has signalled it will ask Washington for a special waiver from sanctions, though a US official last week said there is no guarantee it would do so. While some US officials had hinted that it would not take steps that adversely impact its ties with a partner like India, others said S-400 deal would convey significant transaction.
The S-400 missile defence system, which has been in service since 2007, can track some 300 targets and shoot down around three dozen targets simultaneously over a range of 400 kilometres. The sensitive radars of the system are thought to be able to detect even stealth aircraft which present a very small radar cross-section and are often impossible for other systems to track.
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