US 'heard, understood' India on Russian missile deal: Nirmala Sitharaman
Aspiring hopes and raising the bar of diplomacy, India has maintained the status quo over the purchase of Russia’s S-400 missile and have said that India would be able to avoid US sanctions over it.
Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has said that the US administration has “heard and understood” New Delhi over the missile issue wherein India has placed an order of S-400 Missile defence system for 5.2$ billion.
PM Narendra Modi had inked the deal with Russian President Vladimir Putin in October last year, although the warning of the US of imposing sanctions over buying Russian military equipments. The US had issued the sanction and its warning to punish Moscow, after the latter actions in Ukraine in 2014.
While she was asked whether she was confident of the deal and the US sanction issue, Nirmala Sitharaman replied positive and said, “Yes, I hope so. In the case of S-400 we have explained ourselves well... That has been heard and understood," Ms Sitharaman said. "They have appreciated the point of view put forward.”
Talking more about India and China’s stand over business and other issues, Nirmala Sitharaman said that since PM Narendra Modi met Chinese President Xi Jinping at the Wuhan summit in 2018, the relations have restructured and have become much better than before.
Sitharaman said, “In the case of S-400 we have explained ourselves well... That has been heard and understood," Ms Sitharaman said. They have appreciated the point of view put forward.”
Post Pulwama attack, India had garnered an international support and pressure on China to declare Jaish-e-Mohammad chief Masood Azhar as a ‘global terrorist’ but the Chinese have yet again vetoed it in UN Security Council.
First published: 13 April 2019, 12:14 IST