‘India, Russia to ink aircraft carrier deal ’

The Russian mission here today indicated that negotiations on sale of Russian aircraft carrier Admiral Gorshkov to India are likely to be co...

The Russian mission here today indicated that negotiations on sale of Russian aircraft carrier Admiral Gorshkov to India are likely to be completed by November 11, the day Prime Minister A.B. Vajpayee is slated to visit Moscow. Defence Attache Victor Chernov said though this is a ‘‘complex’’ deal, there are good chances for negotiations to end soon. ‘‘We do hope to finalise the Gorshkov deal by this year,’’ he said adding that efforts were on to time the conclusion of negotiations with Vajpayee’s visit.

Confirming the same, Deputy Chief of Mission Nikolay R. Kudashev added that trilateral negotiations between India, Israel and Russia on the platform for the Phalcon airborne early warning system have almost been finalised. ‘‘I am told that most of the work has been done on this and talks are almost complete.’’ Citing it as an example of jointmanship, Chernov said: ‘‘We know Israel’s defence relationship with India has grown in recent years. From our point of view, the idea is not to treat Israel as a competitor, but as a partner.’’

The coming few months will witness hectic diplomatic activity between both the countries. On Sunday, First Deputy Foreign Minister of Russia Vyacheslav Trubnikov will visit India to take part in the Indo-Russian Joint Working Group on Global Challenges.

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According to Kudashev, he will have detailed discussions with his counterpart, Foreign Secretary Kanwal Sibal. Trubnikov is also expected to meet Deputy Prime Minister L.K. Advani and External Affairs Minister Yashwant Sinha. The Russian mission is learnt to have also put in a request for a meeting between Trubnikov and National Security Advisor Brajesh Mishra.

‘‘On agenda will be discussions on developments in Iraq, West Asia and Iran,’’ said Kudashev. He said The first meeting of the Indo-Russian Joint Working Group on checking international terrorism took place on September 29-30 in Moscow where the countries agreed to promote the India-sponsored Draft Comprehensive Convention Against International Terrorism and Russia’s Draft Convention for the Suppression of the Acts of Nuclear Terrorism.