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India, Russia close to clinching sub deal

New Delhi and Moscow could be close to clinching a deal on leasing a Russian nuclear submarine to the Indian navy, a media report in Moscow said.

Russian Navy Chief Admiral Vladimir Kuroyedov, currently in Bombay to attend the International Fleet Review, is to negotiate details of the lease with Indian naval officials, the Vremya Novostyei daily quoted deputy chief of Russian arms exporting agency Rosoboronexport, Viktor Komardin, as saying.

India is believed to have started negotiations for lease of Russian nuclear submarine a few years ago, but they were put on the backburner after the Pokhran II tests in May 1999, the report said.

"At that time Moscow decided that it was better not to give such a serious weapon system to a country which opened the door of the nuclear club with a kick of her boot," it said.

This would be second time the Indian navy would be leasing a nuclear submarine from Russia.

In January 1988, India had leased a Charlie-1 class nuclear submarine from the erstwhile Soviet Union, which sailed for three years under the Indian flag as INS Chakra.

Russian arms exporters do not see the lease of a nuclear submarine to India as 'directly' going against the existing international non-proliferation regimes, but they qualify it as 'balancing on the verge of foul', the report said.

Russia had recently come under fire from the United States of America with Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld charging it with 'active proliferation'.

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International Fleet Review-2001

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