Russian ties can’t be wished away, India to tell Pompeo

NEW DELHI: India will engage in some plain speaking with US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo by asserting its right to go ahead with S-400 missile defence system deal with Russia, even when presenting the case for a waiver for the purchase-based clauses of CAATSA.

While India will seek a waiver of United States’ sanctions on the $5.4-billion Russian S-400 Triumf anti-missile deal, the issue of long standing Indo-Russian defence partnership will be emphasised when the Secretary of State meets his Indian counterpart and other officials, ET has learnt.

Besides external affairs minister S Jaishankar, Pompeo will call on Prime Minister Narendra Modi, deliver a lecture at Delhi’s India International Centre and meet business leaders to speak about US withdrawal of India from Generalized System of Preferences programme.


No MoUs or agreements are expected to be announced, although negotiations on two important agreements, the Industrial Security Annexe and the Basic Exchange and Cooperation Agreement for Geospatial Cooperation (BECA) have made considerable progress.

The Trump administration had expressed concerns over the S-400 deal in an open fashion. Over the past few weeks, the US has threatened sanctions and claimed that India will not be offered certain hitechnology platforms or hold back on F-21/F-35 sales as it had done with Turkey that has also bought the S-400. In Delhi, sources said: “The US must realise that we have a longstanding defence relationship with Russia which we cannot wish away.

The S-400 deal had been discussed with Moscow for a long time before it was signed in October last.”