News 18:
New Delhi: Despite US threatening sanctions against Russia, India plans to go ahead with its defense deal with the country, including the one for S-400 Triumf air defense missile systems for the Air Force.
This comes after PM Narendra Modi’s recent meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in May where the two had vowed to further strengthen Indo-Russian cooperation.
Sources told PTI, India wants its defence transactions with Russia to be insulated from the purview of stringent American law CAATSA and is likely to raise the issue with the US when the two sides meet in Washington for the 2+2 talks next month.
“In all our engagements with the US, we have clearly explained how India and Russia’s defence cooperation has been going on for a long time and that it is a time-tested relationship. We have mentioned that CAATSA cannot impact the India-Russia defence cooperation,” Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said at a press conference.
