Neelam Mathews
Oct 10, 2012
The twelfth meeting of the
India-Russia Inter-governmental Commission on Military Technical Cooperation
was held in New Delhi today led by the Defense Minister AK Antony and AE
Serdyukov, Defense Minister of the Russian Federation. It
may recalled the minister who was scheduled to visit India on Oct 4, deferred
it by 6 days as the dates are reported by the media to have coincided with the visit of the Pakistan Army chief General to Moscow. This seems strange as
official visits of dignitaries are generally planned in advance.
"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
the 2013," Serdyukov told reporters at the joint press conference after
the meeting of the India-Russia Inter-Governmental Commission on
Military-Technical Cooperation (IR-IGMTC).
"The ship
encountered big malfunction with the main power plant and the boiler. Right now
the ship is relocated to the factory," he said on the present status of
the carrier and hoped that it would be ready for sea trials by April next year. On the BrahMos missile joint venture, he said the two countries
were working on the "new generation" missiles which have already been
inducted into the Indian Army and Navy. "We are looking at capacity of
1,000 pieces for this particular missile for India," he said,
On the delivery schedule of the FGFA, Serdyukov said,
"We are expecting the final certification for the aircraft and initial
start of production by the year 2020." "We have handed over the
contract to the Indian party and I think it will be considered and approved by
the end of this year. The production under licence of Russian equipment is of
utmost essence to India," he said.
India and Russia were also expected to discuss ongoing
projects for 272 Sukhoi-30MKI fighters and 1,657 T-90 main-battle tanks.
India also plans to procure 71 new Mi-17 V5 helicopters for IAF and the
Ministry of Home Affairs, a paper has reported. The Russian side also wants to
work on upgrading the Mi-17 IV helicopters fleet.
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