The enduring relationship between the two countries have survived the disintegration of the erstwhile USSR in 1991, the end of the Cold War and the regime change in both countries, points out Rup Narayan Das.
India and Russia have finalised the contract, a Russian defence official was quoted as saying.
No new deal on the modernisation of the Kiev class aircraft carrier Admiral Gorshkov will be signed during Defence Minister A K Antony's three-day Russia visit beginning Tuesday, the Indian envoy in Moscow said.
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has said that modernisation process of the 44,570-ton aircraft carrier will be completed as soon as possible so that it can be delivered to India in 2012.
"CBI has not investigated into the defence deal concerning the procurement of aircraft carrier Ex-Admiral Gorshkov," Defence Minister AK Antony told the Rajya Sabha in a written reply. The minister's remarks assume significance as the deal is deadlocked with India still considering the Russian demand for a considerable price hike for the carrier, whose delivery has been delayed by over four years.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has raised with Russia the issue of delay in the delivery of Admiral Gorshkov aircraft carrier to the Indian Navy, saying it was important for India that the ship arrives in time. The Gorshkov issue was raised by the prime minister during the 12th Indo-Russian Summit talks with President Dmitry Medvedev at the Kremlin on Friday. Foreign Secretary Ranjan Mathai told newsmen that both India and Russia were clear that they would take action.
The navy's plan to build three Russian Talwar-class frigates has a less than wholesome odour.
The long-pending delivery of aircraft carrier Admiral Gorshkov has been further delayed by around one year and is now scheduled to be handed over to India in the last quarter of 2013 but total cost of the project would remain the same, Lok Sabha was informed on Monday.
With the release of additional funds last week, India has now paid a total of $602 million for Admiral Gorshkov, purchased in 2004 for $964 million and currently undergoing repair and refit at Sevmash shipyard in north Russia, a Defence Ministry official said in New Delhi on Thursday.
After protracted re-negotiations, India and Russia have ended the stalemate over contentious price and technical issues for the Admiral Gorshkov aircraft carrier which had become an irritant in bilateral ties.
The Navy is will be adding 40 more new ships in the near future.
Following India's announcement, Russia too has confirmed that problems relating to the price of the aircraft carrier Admiral Gorshkov have been sorted out, and that the aircraft will be delivered to India in a good shape.
With the Comptroller and Auditor General slamming the government for buying the second-hand Admiral Gorshkov at the price of a new aircraft carrier, Navy Chief Admiral Sureesh Mehta on Thursday defended the price being paid by India for the warship.
The deal includes 700 million for the refit and modernisation of the ship and rest for a complement of 28 Mig-29K fighters and six Kamov-31 anti-submarine helicopters.
"Before entering into any contract, the government will go through all details. We will assess the criticism, including that of CAG, on the issue. At present, the Gorshkov price escalation is in negotiation stage. Nothing has been finalised," Defence Minister A K Antony said during Question Hour.
The Defence Minister should make a statement and clarify what is the reason and why it is being purchased after its price has been escalated 20 times," CPM leader Basudeb Acharia said in Lok Sabha. He was promptly supported by former Defence Minister and Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav.
The delivery of the much-delayed Russian aircraft carrier Admiral Gorshkov to the Indian Navy is likely to be postponed till the next year due to the malfunctioning of its engines during sea trials.
Amid India's apparent willingness to pay more for Gorshkov, a high-level Indian team is in Moscow to inspect the Russian aircraft carrier in a fresh bid to break the deadlock over its delivery.
"New Delhi has agreed to allocate extra funds for the carrier which would be delivered to the Indian Navy in 2012, four years behind schedule," Russian officials said following what they said "successful" negotiations to break the prolonged deadlock between the two sides over multi-billion dollar cost escalation.
Freshly painted in grey, the huge but sleek vessel proudly displaying its new name Vikramaditya in Hindi and English was shown by NTV channel carefully being propelled into the wet dock of the Severodvinsk-based Sevmash Shipyard, where the refit will be continued pending the final price negotiations.
India has paid another staggering US $ 102 million to Russia, to speed up refit work on the aircraft carrier Admiral Gorshkov, pending a final agreement on a huge price hike of almost USD 2 billion demanded by Moscow.
"At several occasions our leadership has given public statements on the issue. Each and every step in the process of the refit of the aircraft carrier is monitored by Indian navy's technical team and they have never raised objections," Vyacheslav Davidenko, the official spokesman for the Rosoboronexport state corporation, told PTI in Moscow.
The Comptroller and Auditor General report for 2008, released in New Delhi, also questioned the prudence of the Ministry in buying the second-hand Russian warship, which now comes at 'half its life-span and about "60 per cent more expensive' than a new aircraft carrier.
The 45,000 tonne displacement carrier was to be delivered by August as per a $1.5 billion contract signed in 2004, but Russia stunned India in November by demanding $1.2 billion more for refitting and other works.
The harbour trials will be followed up by sea trials which are expected to start by November where the major systems of the warship including its weapon firing capabilities would be put to test, they said. The sources said that the warship is expected to be delivered as per the original schedule of December 2012. The 45,000-tonne, 283-metre aircraft carrier, rechristened INS Vikramaditya by the Indian Navy, is undergoing refit and repairs at the Sevmash shipyard in Russia
Ending their haggling, India and Russia have finalised a "mutually acceptable" price for Admiral Gorshkov aircraft carrier, its exporter has said, claiming that the Indian navy would practically get a "totally new, state-of-the-art" ship that is seaworthy for 30 years.
Aircraft carrier Admiral Gorshkov will be handed over towards the end of next year, Russia said on Wednesday as India conveyed its "serious concern" over the prolonged delay and asked it to adopt a "wartime approach" for ensuring its early delivery.
Fighter aircraft will start taking off from Admiral Gorshkov aircraft carrier next month as Russia will start trials of aviation facilities on the warship scheduled to join Indian Navy by December.
In another bid to iron out differences over cost escalation of weapons systems, including the aircraft carrier Admiral Gorshkov, Indian and Russian defence officials open crucial talks next week.
Russia's Sevmash shipyard, currently retrofitting aircraft carrier Admiral Gorshkov, on Tuesday said the warship would be ready for transfer to the Indian Navy in 2012 though the price escalation issue is yet to be resolved. Announcing its readiness to begin sea trials for the carrier in 2011, the shipyard officials said these could be carried "provided all the financial issues are resolved."
Russia has proposed a price escalation of $1.2 billion for re-equipping aircraft carrier Admiral Gorshkov. Under a contract worth $1.5 billion signed between Russia and India, Moscow was to deliver the carrier along with its compliment of MiG-29K fighters in August 2007, but asked for an increase in cost to almost double, saying the warship needed a lot of additional work and would have to undergo almost a year-long sea trial in Russian waters.
During his Russian visit from March 13-19, Admiral Mehta, also the Chairman of the Chiefs of Staff Committee, is also expected to discuss the vital issues of cooperation with his Russian counterpart Admiral Vladimir Vysotsky and fly the MiG-29KUB fighter developed for deployment on Gorshkov carrier after its induction as INS Vikramaditya some time in 2012. The issues of seagoing trials of Admiral Gorshkov by the Russian Navy prior to its delivery will also be taken up.
Amid reports of Gorshkov deal entering into rough weather, Defence Minister A K Antony on Saturday said the government was trying to settle the issue of acquisition of the Russian aircraft carrier with the highest level in Moscow.
The aircraft carrier is currently being refurbished at a cost of $1 billion, which includes 16 MiG 29K aircraft, is being built at the Sevmash shipyard in Serverodvinsk city of Russia.
The Kiev-class warship, for which India signed a contract with Russia in 2004 for $974 million, was originally scheduled for delivery in 2008.
A source in the Russian military-industrial complex told Russian information agency RBC that Russia and India are now reaching an agreement on changing the conditions of the 2004 contract for the carrier's overhaul, the paper said.
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