Kremlin confirms: Russia to sign India S-400 deal shortly

Russian President Vladimir Putin will on Thursday visit India to personally oversee the signing of an important deal between Moscow and New Delhi for the purchase of five Russian S-400 missile defense systems, the Kremlin has confirmed.

“The president is leaving for India on October 4,” Putin’s top foreign policy aide, Yury Ushakov, said on Tuesday.

“The key feature of this visit will be the signing of the agreement to deliver S-400 air defense systems,” he said. “The value of the contract will be more than 5 billion dollars.”

India’s highest security authority approved the $5.43 billion military deal last month.

US opposes deal

The United States has voiced its dissatisfaction with that military procurement. In August, a senior Pentagon official said that the US might impose sanctions against India if the purchase occurred.

Under its current unilateral sanctions against Moscow, Washington could impose bans on third countries if they transact with the Russian defense or intelligence sectors.

India should reconsider S-400 deal with Russia’

The US has serious concerns about India and any other country’s purchase of Russian S-400 missile systems, says a top Republican lawmaker.

The US opposition to India’s military transactions with Russia is based on a domestic bill enacted in 2017 and titled the Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act, or CAATSA.

Target countries subject to secondary US sanctions argue that extraterritorial bans as such are effectively a breach of their sovereignty and contrary to international law.

India has, however, signaled that it will ask Washington for a special waiver from the sanctions, though a US official last week suggested there was no guarantee such waivers would be issued.