NEW DELHI, Jan 18: A major arms deal with Russia that would enable India to acquire its sea-based component of the nuclear forces triad is expected to be signed in March, Indian Defence Minister George Fernandes was quoted as saying on Saturday.

The Star News said the “landmark defence deal” involved the purchase of an aircraft carrier, the lease of two nuclear-powered submarines and long-range strategic bombers.

“The much-awaited deal on the acquisition of the Kiev class aircraft carrier, Admiral Gorshkov, will be ready for signing by the end of March this year,” the news channel said.

In all his visits to India, Russian minister Ilya Klebanov has had a one-point agenda: to push through the biggest naval deal India and Russia have ever signed.

It’s a deal that’s likely to bring Moscow more than a billion dollars in hard currency, Star News said.

Speaking in Moscow, Fernandes said: “There is a sense of urgency on both sides. The negotiations are on for almost a decade now. We need Gorshkov, it is not a secret. All the technical aspects have been agreed, only the issue of price remains to be settled.”

The deal is said to include three key components:

*The Russian aircraft carrier Gorshkov which will be renovated.

*The lease of two nuclear-powered Akula 2 class submarines. NATO rates this as the quietest and the most sophisticated Russian submarine. *A few Tupolev-22M3 strategic bombers, which can be fitted with nuclear tipped cruise missiles.

“At this moment, India has a proven land based missile, the Agni,” a defence analyst said.

“However, in terms of strategic flexibility, other countries which have taken the decision have also required the equivalent of air and sea based platforms,” Star News quoted Commodore Uday Bhaskar, Deputy Director, Indian Defence Studies and Analyses think-tank.

The Defence Minister’s statement in Moscow comes shortly after India announced its new nuclear command structure and conducted a test of the nuclear capable Agni, the analyst noted.

“It is an indicator that the government wants to establish a comprehensive nuclear deterrent as soon as possible,” the report said.

The Press Trust of India, also reporting from Moscow, said India and Russia would hold a joint naval exercise in the Indian Ocean in the next three to four months.

This proposal was made by Russian Defence Minister Sergei Ivanov during his meeting with Fernandes on Friday.

“We have accepted their proposal for joint naval exercise in the Indian Ocean and the Arabian Sea,” Fernandes said, adding that it would be held after three to four months.

“For the first time since the breakup of the former USSR, Moscow is sending its several warships to the Indian Ocean for wargames,” PTI said.

It quoted Russia’s “Kommersant” newspaper as saying two destroyers of Russia’s Pacific Fleet, the flagship of Black Sea Fleet, missile cruiser “Moskva” and a nuclear submarine of North Sea Fleet, along with landing crafts and support ships, are leaving on a six-month voyage to the Indian Ocean next month.—Jay Enn