India to 'sort out' sanction waiver over S-400 purchase deal

The United States and Indian officials in the coming days will sort out all issues related to the United States possibly waiving sanctions against India for its purchase of Russian S-400 air defense systems, Secretary of Defense James Mattis said at the Pentagon.

"We'll sort out all those issues here today, and in the days ahead. we'll work all this forward," Mattis told reporters on Monday when asked if he expects New Delhi to get a sanctions waiver over the S-400 purchase.

Mattis also noted that India has spent many years in non-aligned status despite drawing a lot of weapons from Russia. The defense secretary said he would discuss a number of issues with his Indian counterpart who is now visiting Washington, DC.

In early October, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told Sputnik that Russia and India had signed a historic agreement on the supply of S-400s to New Delhi. The United States voiced its concern over the Indian plans to purchase the S-400 systems, noting that sanctions over the deal could not be ruled out.

Russian-manufactured S-400 Triumph is the next-generation mobile missile defense system which can carry three different types of missiles capable of destroying a variety of aerial targets at a short-to-extremely-long range, from reconnaissance aircraft to ballistic missiles.