New Delhi, Delhi, India

India is in the final stage of sealing the deal for procuring Russia's S-400 missile system, Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said today.

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"The talks have reached conclusive stage. Once done, it will take about two and a half to four years to implement," she said.

The deal to procure the S-400 Triumf air defence missile systems for Indian Air Force is worth Rs 40,000 crore.

India has been negotiating the deal with Russia for the missile system for quite some time. The two countries are trying to insulate the deal from the sanctions announced by the US against Russia under its Countering America's Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA).

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The issue is understood to have figured during Modi's informal talks with Putin in Sochi in May this year.

There has been mounting concerns in India over the US sanctions against Russian defence majors including Rosoboronexport as billions of dollars of military purchases may be impacted because of the punitive measure.

The US had announced sanctions against Russia under the stringent law for its alleged meddling in the American presidential election in 2016.

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CAATSA, which came into effect in January, mandates the Donald Trump administration to punish entities engaging in significant transaction with the defence or intelligence establishment of Russia.

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.

The S-400 is an upgraded version of the S-300 systems. The missile system, manufactured by Almaz-Antey, has been in service in Russia since 2007.

(With inputs from agencies)