New Delhi: India and Russia on Friday concluded the much expected deal for the S-400 Triumf air defence missile system following the annual bilateral summit between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Russian President Vladimir Putin.
“The sides welcomed the conclusion of the contract for the supply of the S-400 Long Range Surface to Air Missile System to India,” a joint statement issued following the meeting said.
It said both sides reaffirmed their commitment to enhance their military technical cooperation, which has a long history of mutual trust and mutual benefit.
“Both sides expressed satisfaction at the significant progress made on the ongoing projects of military technical cooperation and recognised the positive shift towards joint research and joint production of military technical equipment between the two countries,” it stated.
The S-400 missile deal has been an issue of much speculation after US President Donald Trump’s administration’s law — Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA) — came into effect in January.
CAATSA targets countries doing business with Russian, Iranian and North Korean defence companies.
Also, India and Russia signed a document for cooperation on a new nuclear power project in India with the latest VVER-1200 type reactors powered by advanced fuel.
The Action Plan for Prioritisation and Implementation of Cooperation Areas in the Nuclear Field was signed on the sidelines of the 19th India-Russia annual bilateral summit here between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and visiting Russian Preesident Vladimir Putin for setting up six reactors at a yet-to-be designated site in parallel to the ongoing 6,000 MW Kudankulam project in Tamil Nadu.
Both countries have agreed on a second nuclear power project to follow Kudankulam, which envisages the construction of six reactors of the earlier generation VVER type of 1,000 MW capacity each. The VVER-1200 has 20 per cent more capacity than the VVER-1000.
“The two countries plan to implement the project of six nuclear power units of Russian design at a new site in India, as well as further cooperation in third countries in new promising areas of nuclear technology apart from the construction of nuclear power plants,” Russian state atomic energy corporation Rosatom, which is the consultant and equipment suppliers for the Kudankulam project, said in a statement.
The action plan document was signed by India’s Department of Atomic Energy Secretary Kamlesh Vyas and Rosatom Director General Alexey Likhachev.
“Russia will offer the reference evolutionary VVER-1200 technical solutions of the generation “3+” reactors for the new nuclear project and will increase the level of Indian industry’s involvement and localisation of manufacturing equipment for nuclear power plants in the framework of the policy ‘Make in India'” Likhachev said in a statement.
“We are satisfied with our strategic cooperation with India, where we implement the series construction of multiple units of Russian design on the Kudankulam site. We are counting on receiving a contract to implement a series construction of multiple units of our design at a new site in India in the same way.
“This will significantly increase the localization of manufacturing the equipment for nuclear power plants in the framework of the policy ‘Make in India’, as well as optimise the timing and the cost of project implementation. In addition, India is a reliable partner, with whom we are already implementing projects in third countries, and we plan to enhance this cooperation,” Likhachev added.