India and Russia are likely to sign a $ 5 billion missile deal this week. The Russian President Vladimir Putin is scheduled to arrive in New Delhi on Thursday where both countries will discuss on S-400 air defence systems and key regional and global issues.
During the two-day visit Putin will arrive at the national capital at around 6:30 PM and will meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi at his residence in an hour, the Ministry of External Affairs confirmed
What is the S-400 air defence system?
- 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
- Moscow has already started delivery of an undisclosed number of the S-400 missile systems to Beijing.
- The S-400 is an upgraded version of the S-300 systems. The missile system, manufactured by Almaz-Antey, has been in service in Russia since 2007.
- The system can engage aerial targets that include aircraft, unmanned aerial vehicles, and ballistic and cruise missiles within a range of 400 km, at an altitude up to 30 km, as reported by Indian Express.
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Even as the US had urged its allies to forgo transactions with Russia, warning that the S-400 missile defence system that India intends to buy would be a "focus area" for it to implement punitive sanctions against a nation undertaking "significant" business deals with the Russians, India is still planning to sign the deal.
The US administration is required under a domestic law, Countering America's Adversaries through Sanctions Act or CAATSA to impose sanctions on any country that has “significant transactions” with Iran, North Korea or Russia.
