The US is ready to help India's defence needs with the latest technologies and equipment, but New Delhi purchasing long-range S-400 missile defence system from Russia would limit cooperation, the Trump administration has cautioned.
The statement came weeks after an identical warning from a senior State Department official who had said that New Delhi's deal to procure the lethal missile system from Moscow will have "serious implications" on India-US defence ties.
The S-400 is known as Russia's most advanced long-range surface-to-air missile defence system. China was the first foreign buyer to seal a government-to-government deal with Russia in 2014 for the system.
India and Russia signed a USD 5 billion S-400 air defence system deal in October last year after wide-ranging talks between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Senior State Department official (South and Central Asian Affairs) Alice G Wells told House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee for Asia, the Pacific and Nonproliferation on Thursday that the US now does more military exercises with India than any other country.
"Under the Trump administration, we've been very clear that we're ready to help meet India's defence needs and we are seeking a very different kind of defence partnership building on the 'Major Defence Partner' designation that India has received from Congress," Ms Wells said.
She was replying to the Congressional sub-committee on India buying S-400 from Russia and how to make India-US ties as robust and as meaningful as possible.
Just a few weeks ago, India, the United States, the Philippines and Japan did a sail by in the South China Sea, she said.
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