Gorshkov looms but India, Russia continue business
11 Oct 2012 7:39 AM IST
Defence minister, AK Antony and his Russian counterpart, AE Serdyukov, met Wednesday for the 12th meeting of the India-Russia Inter-governmental Commission on Military Technical Cooperation. The meeting was foreshadowed by the news, which emerged a few days ago, about another delay in the delivery of aircraft carrier, Gorshkov, renamed INS Vikramaditya.
At the end of the first session of the meeting, the two defence ministers held a joint press conference, which was dominated by queries about the latest stage in the Gorhskov drama. Antony said to the congregation of media persons, in his traditional laconic style, that, ‘We have conveyed our concern [to the Russian side]. We have some serious concerns. I have suggested that all the agencies on both sides should work on a war footing.’
The Russian minister, ‘I agree with Antony [on the issue]. We have asked for thorough inspection and detailed schedule [of refit and repairs] to be produced. We now expect to deliver the aircraft cruiser by the last quarter of 2013.’
Replying to a question, why he postponed his visit to India earlier, and went to Islamabad in the interim period, Serdyukov did not quite open up, just replying, ‘I had to participate in some important activity [in Moscow]. But [regarding the Pakistan visit], we have not made any changes in our policies about India.’
A senior defence ministry official had earlier stated that Serdyukov sought the change in the dates of the meeting because, the new [and old] Russian President Vladimir Putin had called for a meeting of all general staff and other senior officials of the armed forces in Moscow, thus making the defence minister to stay back in the country.
[Corrigendum: The Russian Defence Minister, AE Serdyukov, was wrongly identified as Sergei Lavrov, the foreign minister in the Wednesday’s edition of this newspaper. The error is deeply regretted.]
At the end of the first session of the meeting, the two defence ministers held a joint press conference, which was dominated by queries about the latest stage in the Gorhskov drama. Antony said to the congregation of media persons, in his traditional laconic style, that, ‘We have conveyed our concern [to the Russian side]. We have some serious concerns. I have suggested that all the agencies on both sides should work on a war footing.’
The Russian minister, ‘I agree with Antony [on the issue]. We have asked for thorough inspection and detailed schedule [of refit and repairs] to be produced. We now expect to deliver the aircraft cruiser by the last quarter of 2013.’
Replying to a question, why he postponed his visit to India earlier, and went to Islamabad in the interim period, Serdyukov did not quite open up, just replying, ‘I had to participate in some important activity [in Moscow]. But [regarding the Pakistan visit], we have not made any changes in our policies about India.’
A senior defence ministry official had earlier stated that Serdyukov sought the change in the dates of the meeting because, the new [and old] Russian President Vladimir Putin had called for a meeting of all general staff and other senior officials of the armed forces in Moscow, thus making the defence minister to stay back in the country.
[Corrigendum: The Russian Defence Minister, AE Serdyukov, was wrongly identified as Sergei Lavrov, the foreign minister in the Wednesday’s edition of this newspaper. The error is deeply regretted.]
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