By IANS,
New Delhi : Ending immense speculation, Russia said Wednesday it would deliver the refurbished aircraft carrier Admiral Gorshkov to India only in the fourth quarter of 2013, even as New Delhi voiced “serious concerns” over the delay and asked for the project to be completed on a war footing.
Describing Russia as “a reliable and time-tested partner”, Defence Minister A.K. Antony, however, clarified that there were no discussions on imposing any penalty for delaying the delivery of the $2.3 billion warship, which was earlier expected to be handed over to the Indian Navy by December 4.
Russia also confirmed that that the prototype of the fifth generation fighter aircraft, being jointly developed with India, will be delivered in 2014 and its production in this country will start in 2020.
In a bid to dispel the impression of its growing proximity to Pakistan over arms supplies, Moscow also underlined that there was no change in its policy in this regard.
Issues related to the delay of Admiral Gorshkov, rechristened INS Vikramaditya by the Indian Navy, figured prominently in the discussions between Antony and visiting Russian Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov.
The two ministers co-chaired the meeting of the India-Russia Inter-Governmental Commission on Military-Technical Cooperation (IR-IGMTC).
“We have handed over the revised overhaul and transfer schedule to the Indian side and we believe that transfer of the ship will take place in the 4th quarter of 2013,” Serdyukov told reporters at a joint press conference.
“We have detected big a malfunction in the boiler and power plant of the ship. Right now the ship is relocated to the factory,” he said.
“We need to test everything so that we are sure we are transferring an operarable aircraft carrier of perfect quality,” Serdyukov said.
Serdyukov added that the ship was back in the Sevmash shipyard and underlined that Russia was hoping to resume sea trials in April “after eliminating all malfunctions”.
The defence ministers’ talks took place weeks before Russian President Vladimir Putin’s visit to India Oct 31-Nov 1.
Antony stressed that the early delivery of the 45,000-tonne aircraft carrier was important for India.
“In all the meetings, we have conveyed serious concern about the delay. In the restricted and various other meetings, I myself have talked about the serious concern over the delay,” he said.
Antony added that he has “suggested that all agencies involved in the trials and delivery of the warship must hereafter adopt a wartime approach to complete the trials so that delivery can be as early as possible.”
Russia’s further delay in transferring the warship has affected India’s plans to upgrade its maritime defences amid Chinese assertiveness on the high seas.
Last month, China pressed its first aircraft carrier, the Liaoning, into service.
Serdyukov said that the production of the fifth generation stealth fighter, the Sukhoi T-50, is expected to start in 2020.
He added that 1,000 units of the BrahMos supersonic cruise missile, another joint venture, are being built.
Serdyukov also rebutted speculation that he deferred his visit to India – he was expected to come here Oct 4 – at the last minute as Pakistan’s army chief, Gen. Ashfaq Parvez Kayani, was in Moscow at that time and clarified that there was no change in Moscow stand on not selling military hardware to Pakistan.
“I will make a very short comment that we have not had any change in our legislation whatsoever,” Serdyukov said when asked if there was any change in Russia’s policy of not arming India’s adversaries.
“I could not make it (on Oct 4) but the only reason I stayed back was due to participation in certain activities run by my supreme commander, President Putin. It was the release of new transport aircraft IL-476. It is a huge contract and it is very promising,” he said.