India, Russia give no hint on S-400 delivery after Delhi talks

External affairs minister S Jaishankar said the S-400s would be discussed at a meeting of defense ministers later in the year.

India and Russia’s top diplomats sidestepped questions on the timetable for delivery of Moscow’s controversial S-400 weapons system to New Delhi and vowed to deepen military-technical cooperation following a meeting in New Delhi Tuesday.

Russian S-400 missile air defence systems. (Representational image/Reuters File)

The South Asian nation’s planned purchase of the anti-aircraft missile system from Russia -- due for delivery in December -- has raised the risk of U.S. sanctions similar to those imposed on Turkey. The former Trump administration had denied India a waiver from a 2017 U.S. law aimed at deterring nations from buying Russian military hardware, a stance that is expected to continue under President Joe Biden.

“We reiterated our commitment to military-technical cooperation,” Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov said after discussions with his Indian counterpart Subrahmanyam Jaishankar. “We have an intergovernmental commission on military-technical cooperation. It has its plans, and this includes discussion of additional manufacturing of Russian military equipment on Indian territory.”

Jaishankar said the S-400s would be discussed at a meeting of defense ministers later in the year.