India's aircraft carrier hits more
troubled waters By Siddharth
Srivastava
NEW DELHI - India's long-stated
intention to procure an aircraft carrier has
suffered a further blow, hurting efforts to match
China's growing maritime clout, especially in the
Indian Ocean region and the South China Sea, where
India has invested to explore for oil and gas.
The deferment by at least a year was
conveyed last week by Russia, which is
reconditioning the Admiral Gorshkov at an
already escalated price of US$2.3 billion. The
ship rechristened INS Vikramaditya was to
have been delivered this year after several delays
already.
"We believe the handover of the
ship will take place in the fourth
quarter of 2013. The
ship encountered a big malfunction with the main
power plant and boiler. I hope its sea trials will
resume next April," Russian Defense Minister
Anatoly Serdyukov told reporters in New Delhi.
His statements followed a meeting with his
Indian counterpart A K Antony, who in turn said he
had communicated India's "serious concern" over
the deferments. The bilateral meeting was a
build-up to Russian President Vladimir Putin's
visit to New Delhi on November 1.
The
delay comes after China last month put its first
aircraft carrier, the Liaoning, into
service in the wake of tensions with Japan.
The Russian Navy's 45,000-ton Admiral
Gorshkov was launched in 1982. The retrofit
was originally to cost $750 million but has
ballooned since.
Deferrals have meant that
India's sole, elderly aircraft carrier INS
Viraat, built for Britain's Royal Navy as
HMS Hermes in 1959 and transferred to India
in 1987, and which was to have been junked by now,
has had to be refitted to operate for five more
years, by which time India hopes to get more
carriers.
Reports suggest that India's
attempt to develop an indigenous aircraft carrier
in its own shipyards is also delayed and is likely
to be operational only by 2018.
India's
independent audit agency, the Comptroller and
Auditor General, meanwhile, has severely
criticized the delay in the delivery of the
Russian carrier. In a report placed before
Parliament in July 2009, the CAG said: "The
objective of induction of [Gorshkov] as an
aircraft carrier in time to bridge the gap in
Indian Navy capabilities has been defeated. The
decision to go in for repair and refit of a
second-hand ship has become questionable, as a new
aircraft carrier would have cost much less and
would have had twice the lifespan."
Indian
Navy commanders have steadfastly tried to impress
on the political leadership the need for at least
three aircraft carriers, for the eastern and
western seaboards, while the third may be be
refitted and upgraded to secure strategic
interests that stretch from Africa's east coast to
the Strait of Malacca.
Aircraft carriers
will form a crucial cog in India's
defense-modernization efforts, estimated at $100
billion, over the next decade with twin aims of
creating an effective long-term deterrence against
China and being battle-ready against Pakistan,
should the need arise.
The Gorshkov
postponement also underlines the difficulties that
India faces in continuing its defense engagements
with Russia, a relationship that harks back to the
Cold War era. Over recent years Russia's
traditional role as India's main defense-equipment
supplier has been gradually substituted by
countries such as Israel, France, and lately the
US.
In early 2007, India purchased a
36-year-old warship, USS Trenton
(rechristened INS Jalashwa) from the United
States. It has a gross tonnage of 16,900 and cost
$50 million. INS Jalashwa was the first
warship ever purchased from the US by India and is
the second-largest it now possesses, after INS
Viraat.
There is not much more that
India can do except express its frustration over
the delayed Gorshkov project, as it has
already invested huge capital in refitting the
carrier. Further, it cannot afford to annoy
Moscow. Despite the reduced importance, India
continues to depend on Russia to supply major
military hardware such as fifth-generation stealth
fighter jets, BrahMos cruise missiles, warships,
nuclear-powered submarines and tanks.
Russia leased nuclear-powered submarine
INS Chakra and has helped India build its
indigenous nuclear sub INS Arihant that
substantially enhances the country's underwater
attack and surveillance capabilities several
notches.
A lot of the existing defense
equipment depends on spare parts, service and
maintenance on Russian state entities. India and
Russia also continue to share long-standing ties
in energy and atomic power. Russia is implementing
the controversial Kudankulam nuclear project in
Tamil Nadu state.
This month, state-run
gas utility GAIL India signed a 20-year deal with
Russian gas major Gazprom to import 2.5 million
tonnes of liquefied natural gas annually. India's
state-owned explorer Oil and Natural Gas Corp
(ONGC) is invested in Russian oil and gas assets.
Keeping such perspectives, New Delhi has
so far not pushed for imposition of any penalties
as per procedures over the delay in delivery of
the Gorshkov. It can only hope for the
best.
Siddharth Srivastava is a
New Delhi-based journalist. He can be reached
at sidsri@yahoo.com.
(Copyright 2012
Asia Times Online (Holdings) Ltd. All rights
reserved. Please contact us about sales,
syndication and
republishing.)
Head
Office: Unit B, 16/F, Li Dong Building, No. 9 Li Yuen Street East,
Central, Hong Kong Thailand Bureau:
11/13 Petchkasem Road, Hua Hin, Prachuab Kirikhan, Thailand 77110
