Russia says talks with India on technology transfer for the Su-57 fighter jet are underway and will feature in the Modi-Putin bilateral meeting.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov says defence cooperation remains strong, with both sides moving beyond a buyer-seller relationship towards joint production.
Russia also says the delayed fifth S-400 squadron is being managed, with delivery to India scheduled for November 2026.
Talks between India and Russia on the transfer of technology (ToT) for the fifth-generation Su-57 fighter jet are underway and will be part of the agenda for President Vladimir Putin and Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s bilateral meeting in Delhi, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said on Tuesday.
Peskov said Putin and Modi will hold a bilateral meeting on Friday, a day ahead of the BRICS Leaders’ Summit scheduled for September 12-13. Notably, India assumed the BRICS presidency on January 1 this year, taking over the grouping’s chair for the fourth time. PM Modi will host the summit, which will bring together leaders of member countries, invited participants and senior officials.
During his virtual press conference, the Kremlin spokesperson described the Su-57 as one of the most sophisticated fighter jets in the world and said the sale of the aircraft to India was on the agenda. India has sought production technology for the jet, a demand that remains under discussion, he said.
“Every country, when it has brand new, sophisticated machines, every country wants to keep the technologies within itself,” the spokesperson said, adding that Russia had nonetheless discussed the possibility of sharing the technology with India in view of the two countries’ strategic partnership.
However, over a month ago, India’s defence secretary Rajesh Kumar Singh had ruled out any immediate plan to induct new Sukhoi variants into the Indian Air Force (IAF).
Peskov stated that the defence cooperation between the two countries was, by nature, not conducted in public. “It should be kept and should be conducted in silence for the sake of its effectiveness,” he said, adding that all outstanding issues would figure prominently in talks between the two sides.
The Kremlin spokesperson also addressed the delayed delivery of the S-400 missile defence system, saying Russia was capable of fulfilling its obligations and that the matter was being managed and had come up during conversations between the two countries’ leaders.
India-Russia Move Beyond Buyer-Seller Ties
On broader military cooperation, he said Russia and India were “satisfied” with their partnership and had moved beyond a simple buyer-seller relationship towards joint production of military equipment. Pointing to the BrahMos missile system, he said both sides were now looking at upgrading missile systems with additional features to make them more competitive and effective.
The spokesperson declined to give further details, saying military cooperation was too sensitive a subject to be discussed in the open, though he maintained the issues would remain high on the agenda in future talks.
New Delhi has so far received four of the five S-400 air defence squadrons from Russia under their 2018 contract. The final fifth squadron is scheduled for delivery in November 2026. In October 2018, India had inked a contract with Russia to procure five squadrons of S-400 systems worth USD 5.43 billion.
The S-400 air defence systems had played a crucial role during Operation Sindoor in May 2025 by neutralising a Pakistani early airborne warning aircraft at a distance of 314 kilometres across the Indus in Pakistani heartland.
While Pakistan used several kamikaze drones to target the S-400 systems stationed at the Adampur and Bhuj air bases, the Russian-origin surface-to-air defence system ensured that none of the Pakistani fighter aircraft could manoeuvre anywhere near the Indian border for fear of being shot down.
