NEW DELHI, Mar 20: The visiting United States Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said he and his Indian counterpart Rajnath Singh had discussed India’s planned purchase of Russia’s S400 air defence system, adding that Washington had asked all its partners to stay away from Russian equipment to avoid US sanctions.
“There has been no delivery of S400 systems to India and so the possibility of sanctions was not discussed,” Austin told the media persons after his meeting with Singh on Saturday.
Austin is making the first visit by a top member of US President Joe Biden’s administration to India as part of efforts to forge an alliance of countries seeking to push back against China’s assertiveness in the region. The defence department sources had earlier said the US through Austin could convey its serious view of India’s decision to go for Russian defence equipment but apparently it has not happened.
(Manas Dasgupta)
