U.S. defense secretary urges India to avoid buying Russian equipment
MARCH 20, 20212:32 AMUPDATED 3 DAYS AGO
By Aditi Shah, Nigam Prusty
3 MIN READ
NEW DELHI (Reuters) - U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin discussed India’s planned purchase of Russia’s S400 air defence system at a meeting with his Indian counterpart on Saturday, reiterating U.S. allies should steer clear of Russian equipment to avoid sanctions.
“We certainly urge all our allies, our partners to move away from Russian equipment ... and really avoid any kind of acquisitions that would trigger sanctions on our behalf,” Austin told reporters in New Delhi.
No S400 systems have been delivered to India and so the possibility of sanctions was not discussed, he said.
The United States last year imposed sanctions on Turkey for buying the S400 system.
India made an initial payment of $800 million in 2019 towards the Russian purchase and the first set of missile batteries are expected later this year.
More:
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-asia-austin-india/u-s-defense-secretary-urges-india-to-avoid-buying-russian-equipment-idUSKBN2BC071
