Moscow is free to take legal recourse in case it feels this could resolve the Sistema issue, India said on Tuesday.

Russian leaders have repeatedly said that the Indian government hasn't made sufficient efforts to resolve the issue, which erupted from the cancellation of Sistema Shyam Teleservices Ltd's 21 licences.

Syed Akbaruddin, a spokesperson for India's foreign ministry, said, "This is a commercial issue and while it is our hope and endeavour to solve issues amicably, anybody involved in such a dispute is free to take legal recourse if it feels that it can lead to a solution."

The foreign ministry's statement emerged shortly after Alexander Kadakin, Russian ambassador to India, warned that Moscow would drag India to the International Court of Arbitration to get a solution for the Sistema issue. He added that Moscow was upset with what had happened with Sistema in India.

Russia's Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin had also said the same thing during his recent visit to India.

Previously, Russian authorities had said that it would not allow Sistema's $3.1 billion investment in its India's telecom venture to go waste due to the country's internal problems.

In February, the Supreme Court of India had cancelled a total of 122 permits that had been issued by the then telecom minister A Raja, declaring the permits arbitrary as well as unconstitutional.

Sistema and Russian government hold 56.68 per cent and 17.14 stakes in Sistema Shyam Teleservices Ltd, respectively.