The US government has been, once again, informed about India's decision to proceed with the purchase of the surface-to-air S-400 Triumf missile system from Russia for $5.2 billion, said Indian External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar.
Speaking at the Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), a Washington-based think tank, the Indian foreign minister S Jaishankar said: "India has made a decision on the S-400 and we have discussed that with the US government. I am reasonably convinced of the powers of my persuasion."
“It would be my hope that people (US) understand why this particular transaction is important for us,” Jaishankar said.
Jaishankar was reiterating a position he stated on Monday, prior to his meeting with US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo at the State Department.
"We have always maintained that what we buy — the sourcing of military equipment — is very much a sovereign right," the AFP reported Jaishankar as saying on Monday.
The US Department of State warned that it could impose sanctions on any country that buys from Russia’s defence sector under its 2017 Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act. However, India and Russia are believed to have found a permanent payment mechanism, which they believe will sidestep possible US sanctions.
This summer, Russia completed the delivery of the first batch of the S-400 systems to Turkey following a deal concluded in 2017. After Ankara made it clear earlier in the year that it would proceed with the deal, Washington suspended the deliveries of F-35 jets to Turkey, warning of further sanctions to follow. Turkey plans to activate the S-400 systems in April 2020.