 "Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj display the deal documents as Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Russian President Vladimir Putin look on, at Hyderabad House in New Delhi on Friday (Photo:Dalip Kumar)")
The low-key announcement on Friday of India’s $5.43-billion purchase of Russia’s S-400 air defence missile system contrasted sharply with the flourish with which Prime Minister Narendra Modi and French President Francois Hollande announced their April 2015 agreement to supply India 36 Rafale fighters.
Meeting the press in New Delhi, Modi and Russian President Vladimir Putin avoided any mention of the S-400 during their comments to the media. Nor did the contract feature in an official Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) list of documents signed.
Eventually, India’s biggest overseas arms contract since the Rafale buy found official mention only through one
