India with a new delivery of S-400 from Russia

India has received a new batch of S-400 anti-aircraft missile systems from Russia, India Today reported, citing high-ranking sources.

"According to sources, the batch of S-400 missile systems was delivered by ship and is already in service. Parts of the missile system arrived by air and sea and were quickly deployed to their designated places," the newspaper said.

Russia and India signed a contract to supply the S-400 in October 2018. As previously reported, the five regimental kits will cost Delhi $5.43 billion. India became the third foreign buyer of these systems after China and Turkey.

In early January, the "Republic World" reported that the deployment of the first S-400 complex at an air base in the Indian state of Punjab was likely to end in February this year. No information has yet been released on the completion of this process.

Sources from the Ministry of Defense said that the Russian anti-aircraft missile systems are located to cover sections of the border with China and Pakistan.

There is a long-standing territorial dispute between India and China over the ownership of a mountainous area in northern Kashmir, as well as nearly 60,000 square kilometers in the northeastern state of Arunachal Pradesh. The line of de facto control, which replaces the border between the countries in this region, passes through the Ladakh region. In the fall of 1962, the dispute even escalated into a border war. A new escalation between India and China began in Ladakh in May 2020, when a series of clashes between the two countries' military erupted in the Pangong area, after which Delhi and Beijing stepped up their military presence in the region.

On the other hand, India's relations with Pakistan have deteriorated sharply,...