Discussions with US underway on S-400, says India

New Delhi: India on Thursday said discussions are going on with the US on the S-400 missile defence deal, a day after US Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman expressed unease over New Delhi's procurement of the Russian weapons system.

"This has been under discussion between our two countries for some time. It was raised and we have discussed it and explained our perspective. And discussions on this are ongoing," External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said.

He was replying to a question on Sherman's comments on Wednesday on the India-Russia deal.

Sherman, on a three-day visit to India, told journalists that any decision on possible sanctions on the S-400 deal will be made by President Joe Biden and Secretary of State Antony Blinken.

The issue of India procuring the S-400 missile system from Russia figured in Sherman's wide-ranging talks with Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla on Wednesday and both sides hoped to find a way out on the issue through dialogue.

"We've been quite public about any country that decides to use the S-400. We think that is dangerous and not in anybody's security interest. That said, we have a strong partnership with India," Sherman said.

"We want to be very thoughtful about the ways ahead, and discussions between our countries try to solve problems and I hope we will be able to in this instance as well," she said. Chief of Air Staff Air Chief Marshal VR Chaudhary on Tuesday said that the first batch of S-400 missile defence system will arrive in India from Russia by this year.

The US has already imposed sanctions on Turkey under the Countering America's Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA) for the purchase of S-400 missile defences from Russia.