By RIA Novosti
Moscow : India’s Ambassador to Russia Kanwal Sibal said Monday that modernisation of Admiral Gorshkov (Vikramaditya) aircraft carrier at Russia’s largest ship-building complex Sevmash would be completed on schedule.
“We have our monitoring team at Sevmash. Officially, the Russian government has told us in writing that the project will be completed on schedule”, he said during a press conference at RIA Novosti on the 60th Anniversary of Indian independence.
Sibal said that the modernisation of Admiral Gorshkov was “a flashy project for Russian-Indian defence cooperation” and both states were concerned about its timely realisation.
“This is a high-visibility project and the Russian success in completing it on schedule would have a powerful impact on public opinion in India and also demonstrate to the international community Russia’s capability in the sector. Therefore both countries have very big stakes in the timely accomplishment of the project”, he said.
At the same time the ambassador stated that “if the situation were to change, than we will naturally hear it officially from the Russian government”.
Initially, the upgrading of the Soviet aircraft carrier sold to India in January 2004 was to be completed in 2008.