Accord on specific deals unlikely

By Sandeep Dikshit

NEW DELHI, NOV. 4. Although a review of various ongoing defence deals with Russia will form an integral part of the Prime Minister, Mr. Atal Behari Vajpayee's visit to Moscow, senior Defence Ministry officials said no agreements or memoranda of understanding (MoU) are expected to be signed for specific deals.

India is attaching considerable importance to examining the status of military purchases planned from Moscow. This is evident from the fact that the Defence Secretary, Mr. Yogendra Narain, is part of Mr. Vajpayee's entourage for the Moscow leg of the tour. However, ``the deals are not ripe enough'' for agreements to be signed, highly placed Defence Ministry officials said.

As a result the defence component of the Prime Minister's tour would be largely explorative and informative in nature, they added. New Delhi will be closely examining the metamorphosis of the State-owned armaments exporting company, RVZ, into a private entity. The organisation in its private avatar has completed one year and India would be keen to know its effectiveness in honoring defence contracts, specially those meant for spares.

The Government would like to be very sure about the competence of this company in meeting the demand for spares before concluding contracts for armaments, observed sources. Although Russia has gone out of its way to help the Indian armed forces in times of distress, New Delhi has been exasperated with the unpunctual supply of spares which at times has affected defence preparedness.

Sources said the possibility of purchasing the berthed aircraft carrier, Admiral Gorshkov, as also other military hardware will be discussed by Mr. Narain with his counterparts. ``Certain other defence commitments might also crop up,'' said sources. The two sides are also expected to discuss defence items mentioned in the inter-Governmental agreement and some other general defence items.

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