Wait over: INS Vikramaditya set to join Indian Navy on Nov 16

Defence Minister, A.K. Antony, will induct the
long-delayed aircraft carrier INS Vikramaditya,
designed to boost India’s maritime capabilities,
at a shipyard in Russia on Saturday.
Antony will leave for Russia tomorrow with a
high-level delegation, including Defence Secretary,
R.K. Mathur, on a four-day visit during which,
apart from commissioning the aircraft carrier, he
will also co-chair the India-Russia Inter-
Governmental Commission on Military Technical
Cooperation (IRIGC-MTC) with his Russian
counterpart, Sergey Shoigu.
Contracted for in 2004, during the NDA regime,
the vessel has been delayed by over five years
and has seen several time and cost-overruns in
the last nine years.
“The commissioning ceremony will take place at
Sevmash Shipyard, Severodvinsk, on Saturday and
the IRIGC-MTC meeting will take place in
Moscow on Monday,” a Defence Ministry release
said.
Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin
will be attending the commissioning along with
Defence Minister Shoigu.
For the IRIGC—MTC, Antony’s delegation includes
Secretary (Defence Production) GC Pati, DG
(Acquisition) SB Agnihotri, and senior officers of
the armed forces.
At the meet, the two sides will discuss a broad
spectrum of issues related to ongoing and
proposed defence projects and defence
cooperation between the two countries.
The two sides will also exchange views on
bilateral concerns related to regional and global
issues, the release said.