As per the reports, India and Russia are negotiating for the purchase of additional S-400 missile system by New Delhi. According to the reports published in the TASS, a leading Russian News Agency, a senior Russian defence export official reiterated that New Delhi will receive additional S-400 surface-to-air missile from Moscow.
“India already has our S-400 system. There is potential to further expand our cooperation in this area as well. That means new deliveries. For now, we are in the negotiation stage”, said Dmitry Shugayev, head of the Russia’s Federal Service for Military Technical Cooperation.
In the year 2018, India signed a deal worth of US $5.5 billion, for the procurement of five units of S-400 from Russia. Among them, three units have already been delivered to India and Russia will deliver the final two units of the S-400 missile system in the year 2026 and 2027.
The S-400 missile system is hailed as the ‘game-changer’ for India during ‘Operation Sindoor’. It indeed boosted the offensive and defensive capabilities of Indi and rendered a strategic edge by successfully intercepting and neutralizing the incoming aerial threats from the Pakistani camp. According to the Air Chief Marshall AP Singh, during Operation Sindoor, S-400 helped to shoot down ‘atleast’ five Pakistani fighter jets and one large aircraft.
S-400 named as ‘Sudarshana Chakra’ in India, is one of the world’s most advanced long-range surface-to-air missile. It can operate with the range upto 400 km and an altitude of upto 30 km. It can simultaneously engage and intercept maximum of 36 targets and renders 360 degree surveillance. Its radar can track the threats upto 600 kms. From drones and loitering munitions, S-400 can successfully hit even high-speed military aircrafts, cruise missiles and fast moving intermediate range ballistic missiles.
Negotiations between India and Russia for the purchase of additional S-400 missile system also testifies the stable and spiking strategic partnership between New Delhi and Moscow, despite irrational threats from the US administration. US President Donald Trump has specifically imposed 25 per cent additional tariffs on India, for purchasing the Russian oil. Despite such misplaced geopolitical compulsions, India-Russia partnership stands as time-tested bonhomie.
Infact, as per the reports, India’s oil purchase from Russia, is set to spike by 10-20 per cent in the month of September compared to August. In the aftermath of Trump imposing additional tariffs on India, Moscow has agreed to sell oil to New Delhi at a comparatively discounted price. Lately, during the bilateral meeting held between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Russian President Vladimir Putin, on the sidelines of the 25th SCO summit at Tianjin, China, both leaders agreed to further strengthen their ‘Privileged and Strategic Partnership’ in every sector possible from energy and defence security to trade and people-to-people relations.
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