S-400 delivery to India on track despite US pressure, says Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov

The deal on the delivery of Russian-made S-400 surface-to-air missile systems to India is proceeding as planned despite US attempts to disrupt Russia-India cooperation in this sphere, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Monday.

"The S-400 deal is not only symbolic, but also pragmatically significant for ensuring India’s defense potential," Lavrov said, following bilateral with his Indian counterpart S Jaishankar and the two plus two meet.

"So far, everything is proceeding as planned. The agreements are being fulfilled. We see attempts by the United States to undermine such cooperation and impose the purchase of its own weapons on India and follow US conceptions of how the region must develop," the Minister pointed out.


He pointed out, during the talks Moscow’s "Indian friends stated firmly and clearly that India was a sovereign state and would itself decide what armaments to buy and who will be its partner here and in other spheres".

Russia and India enjoy special and privileged relations of strategic partnership, he stressed. The session of the bilateral inter-governmental commission on military and military-technical cooperation held on the morning of December 6 clearly demonstrated and confirmed that "this cooperation is of interest for both countries," he added.

The talks on the production of the Russian anti-coronavirus jab Sputnik Light in India are nearing completion, Lavrov told reporters.

"The talks on Sputnik Light are nearing completion," he said when asked a question.

The agreement on the production of the two-component vaccine Sputnik V in the republic is also being implemented, the minister added. "Quite a large scale is expected - around hundred million doses each year," he said.