United States warns India over S-400 deal with Russia

TIL Desk/World/Islamabad/ India’s decision to buy the long-range S-400 missile defense system from Russia will have serious implications on defence ties, the Trump administration has warned.       

The S-400 is known as Russia’s most advanced long-range surface-to-air missile defence system. China was the first foreign buyer to seal a government-to-government deal with Russia in 2014 to procure the lethal missile system.           

India and Russia signed a USD 5 billion S-400 air defence system deal in October last after wide-ranging talks between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Russian President Vladimir Putin.  

A Senior State Department Official told a group of reporters on Thursday that New Delhi’s decision to buy S-400 air defence system from Moscow was significant, disagreeing with the view that it “isn’t a big deal”.               

The official disagreed with the view that India’s buying of S-400 from Russia might not have an impact as long as it increases its military purchase from the US.