The Defense Secretary’s visit to Russia last week for the purpose of negotiating a reasonable price over the delivery of the aircraft carrier Gorshkov has yielded ‘No results’, according to sources in the Ministry of Defense.
“They are not willing to budge an inch on the price,” explained a source, adding, “And neither are we.”
“Just because Russia has been a long-time supplier of defense materiel does not mean it should take advantage of their status,” he said, elaborating, “They have to understand India is no longer beholden to them for procurement. We have other options. Just because we have gone ahead with the Gorshkov deal with them and invested an amount on it, does not mean they can take advantage of the fact.”
“It would appear they are slowly starting to get the idea. The announcement of Putin of the delivery of the unfortunate Nerpa submarine to India by the end of this year on a ten year lease this week cannot be seen as pure coincidence. As it is, its delivery is past schedule, like the Gorshkov. The factory configuring the Nerpa didn’t have the money to finish the job and he’s announced funds for its completion. This is not entirely insignificant,” he said.
