Russia’s Sistema which has decided not to participate in the spectrum auction, scheduled to begin in November, continues to haunt Indian government with telecom minister Kapil Sibal writing a letter to the Law Ministry to take a stand on the issue as the “time-line” for amicable settlement of the issue has expired, reports Economic Times.

Sistema had lost 21 spectrum licences as the result of Supreme Court’s February 2 verdict cancelling all the 122 spectrum licences allotted during the tenure of the former telecom minister A Raja. The company holds 56.68 per cent stake in SSTL.

In his letter to the Law Ministry, Kapil Sibal is learnt to have said that all requisite steps like appointment of the arbitrator need to be taken given the urgency of the issue. The government is worried that Sistema JSFC, Russia may seek arbitration.

Sistema has invested USD 3.1 billion in telecom venture in India and Russia has already said that it will not let this huge investment go waste.

The issue has gained significance as last week Russia had said that the dispute over Sistema following the cancellation of its 2G licences will have its impact on the foreign investment which could also affect Indo-Russia bilateral cooperation.

Speaking on the sidelines of a cultural event Russian Ambassodor to India Alexander Kadakin had said that if Indian courts fail to resolve the issue, there will be no option left but to take recourse to international arbitration. He said that Russia has expressed its displeasure over the issue many time in the past. "We are upset about the decision," he had said.