By IANS,
New Delhi : Defence Minister A.K. Antony will Saturday commission Indian Naval Ship Vikramaditya, the country’s second aircraft carrier and its biggest warship, at the Sevmash shipyard in Russia.
Antony will leave Delhi Friday for a four-day visit to Russia. He will also co-chair the 13th meeting of the India-Russia Inter-Governmental Commission on Military Technical Cooperation (IRIGC-MTC) with his Russian counterpart Sergey Shoigu in Moscow Monday, said a defence ministry release.
The Sevmash shipyard is located in Severodvinsk city.
Antony will be accompanied by a high-level delegation, whose members include Chief of Naval Staff Admiral D.K. Joshi and Defence Secretary R.K. Mathur.
Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin, apart from Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu, will be among those present at the function to commission INS Vikramaditya.
The Indian delegation at the IRIGC-MTC will include G.C. Pati, secretary – defence production, and S.B. Agnihotri, director general acquisition, besides senior officers of the armed forces.
A broad spectrum of issues related to present and proposed defence projects and defence cooperation between the two countries will be discussed at the meeting.
The two sides will also exchange views on regional and global issues of concern to both the countries.
The IRIGC-MTC was established in 2000 with a view to strengthen defence cooperation between the two countries.
It has been meeting annually, alternately in India and Russia, at the level of the defence ministers to discuss matters relating to bilateral defence cooperation.