Eurasia Press & News
Russia on Saturday finally handed over a refurbished ex-Soviet aircraft carrier to India after a refit that overran by five years and went vastly over budget, damaging ties between the countries.
Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin and Indian Defence Minister A.K. Antony took part in a ceremony at the Arctic port of Severodvinsk on Saturday morning.
Officials lowered the Russian flag on the ship and raised the flag of the Indian navy in its place. The wife of the ship’s captain broke a coconut against its side.
Russia, which is India’s largest arms supplier, carried out a major refit of the aircraft carrier, which joined the Soviet navy in 1987 as the Admiral Gorshkov. It has now been renamed the INS Vikramaditya after an Indian emperor.
The original deal signed in 2004 saw Russia agree to modernise the mothballed carrier for $771 million (571 million euros) by 2008. But costs ballooned to $2.3 billion, according to Indian media reports, as the deadline was regularly extended.
Russia says that the original deadline was based on an incorrect assessment of the amount of work that needed to be completed by its Sevmash shipyard, which specialises in nuclear submarines.
