India has concluded price negotiations with Russia for a nearly Rs 40,000 crore deal to procure S-400 Triumf air defence missile systems for the Indian Air Force.
The two countries are now trying to find a way out to evade the provisions of a US law (Countering America's Adversaries Through Sanctions Act - CAATSA) that seeks to punish countries and entities engaged in agreement with the defence or intelligence establishment of Russia.
The US had announced sanctions against Russia under the stringent law for its alleged meddling in the American presidential election in 2016.
India wants to procure the long-range missile systems to tighten its air defence mechanism, particularly along the nearly 4,000-km-long Sino-India border.
In 2016, India and Russia had signed an agreement on the 'Triumf' interceptor-based missile system which can destroy incoming hostile aircraft, missiles and even drones at ranges of up to 400 km.
S-400 is known as Russia's most advanced long-range surface-to-air missile defence system.