MOSCOW, August 6 (RIA Novosti) - Russia...
most likely agree on the new deal considering that China has launched an ambitious aircraft carrier construction program.He reiterated that India"s only aircraft carrier - INS Viraat - will be decommissioned in the next few years, while construction of its own aircraft carrier would take much longer than the remaining overhaul of the Russian warship.
"Basically, India does not have an alternative but to agree [on the deal]," he said.
Russia has pledged to finish the Admiral Gorshkov"s overhaul as soon as possible and deliver it to India in 2012 if the additional $1.2 bln funding is provided by New Delhi.
After modernization, the carrier will join the Indian Navy as INS Vikramaditya, and is expected to be seaworthy for 30 years.
Admiral Gorshkov is a modified Kiev class aircraft carrier, originally named Baku.
The ship was laid down in 1978 at the Nikolayev South shipyard in Ukraine, launched in 1982, and commissioned with the Soviet
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