India to go ahead with S-400 deal: Def Min

Despite US reservation, India will go ahead with the procurement of five S-400 Tirumf advanced Air Defence systems from Russia worth over Rs 40,000 crore. Negotiations for the proposed deal between the two Governments are “almost” at the “conclusive” stage and once the contract is inked, delivery will take place between two-and-a-half and four years.

Clearing the air on apprehensions over the deal due to US objections, Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said on Friday, India has made its stand clear to America. It announced sanctions against Russia some months back under a stringent law Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA).  This led to speculations about the act impacting the S-400 deal between India and Russia.

Sitharaman said India explained to the US that its relationship with Russia is long. 

Moreover, India has procured several weapon platforms from Russia over the years besides regularly procuring critical spare parts, she said adding New Delhi’s relations with Russia and Washington cannot be compared.

“Our Defence relation with Russia has endured several decades and we have conveyed about it to a US Congressional delegation which visited

India recently,” she told a group of reporters at her office in South Block.

Asserting that the S-400 deal was in “almost conclusive” stage, the minister also said US Defence Secretary Jim Mattis in April favoured the deal between India and Russia.  He had appealed to the US Congress in April to provide India the national security waiver. He also said imposing sanctions under CAATSA for the S-400 deal will only impact the US. Sitharaman said US Foreign Secretary Michael R Pompeo also aired more or less same opinion.

She, however, refrained from giving a time line for signing the deal for the IAF and said once the contract is inked the delivery will take between two-and-half years to four years. It was learnt, the deal may be announced before the annual summit level talks between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Vladimir Putin in October or November this year.  The two countries had signed an agreement in principle in 2016 for the S-400 Triumf deal.  Since then price negotiations were on between the officials delegations of two defence ministries.

The S-400 air defence missile systems can detect and destroy hostile targets, including aircraft, missiles and drones at a range of more than 400 kms and flying at an altitude of more than 35 kms. China has already started the process of induction of this Russian-built system. Beijing had signed a Government-to-Government deal with Moscow for six S-400 missile systems in 2014.

Asked about the reported sluggish pace of ‘Make In India’ programme and Strategic Partnership to give a boost to the Indian private sector in manufacturing big ticket items like submarines and helicopters, the minister said initiating reforms of this scale sometimes ended up the decision makers “tied up in knots.”

Elaborating upon the problems faced, Sitharaman admitted the process was time consuming adding the focus on simplifying the procedures while ensuring accountability had “taken lot of time.”  She assured that Strategic Partnership will roll out soon.

On the recent United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) report criticising India for alleged human rights violations in Jammu and Kashmir, she dismissed the UN body’s report and said “assessment was without basis.” Moreover, the report was prepared by “sitting somewhere else” and not taking into account facts on the ground, the minister asserted.  She lauded the security forces for exercising “highest” restraint while dealing with protestors in the State.