NEW DELHI, December 6. /TASS/. The deal on the delivery of Russian-made S-400 surface-to-air missile systems to India is proceeding as planned despite US attempts to disrupt Russia-India cooperation in this sphere, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Monday.
"The S-400 deal is not only symbolic, but also pragmatically significant for ensuring India’s defense potential," Lavrov said, following the negotiations with his Indian counterpart Subrahmanyam Jaishankar and the Russia-India consultations between the defense and foreign ministers of the two countries in the 2x2 format.
"So far, everything is proceeding as planned. The agreements are being fulfilled. We see attempts by the United States to undermine such cooperation and impose the purchase of its own weapons on India and follow US conceptions of how the region must develop," Russia’s top diplomat pointed out.
As the Russian foreign minister pointed out, during the talks Moscow’s "Indian friends stated firmly and clearly that India was a sovereign state and would itself decide what armaments to buy and who will be its partner here and in other spheres".
Russia and India enjoy special and privileged relations of strategic partnership, Russia’s top diplomat stressed. The session of the bilateral inter-governmental commission on military and military-technical cooperation held on the morning of December 6 clearly demonstrated and confirmed that "this cooperation is of interest for both countries," he added.
Russia-India S-400 deal
New Delhi announced its intention to purchase Russia’s S-400 air defense systems back in 2015. A $5.43 bln contract on the delivery of five regiment sets of the S-400 ‘Triumf’ anti-aircraft missile systems was signed during Russian President Vladimir Putin’s visit to India in October 2018.
Russia’s S-400 ‘Triumf’ (NATO reporting name: SA-21 Growler) is the latest long-and medium-range surface-to-air missile system that went into service in 2007. It is designed to destroy strategic and tactical aircraft, cruise and ballistic missiles and hypersonic weapons and can also be used against ground installations. The S-400 can engage targets at a distance of up to 400 km and at an altitude of up to 30 km under intensive enemy fire and jamming.