India's nuclear submarine ready by 2009 - Navy Chief

INDIA, An Indian-built nuclear-powered submarine will be ready for sea trials in two years, and the navy has ordered 32 new warships, naval chief Sureesh Mehta said. India, which carried out a string of nuclear tests in 1998, has already built ballistic missiles for its army and configured warjets to carry such weapons.

"Our scientists have confirmed that they would have the advance technology vessel (nuclear submarine) project ready for trials by 2009," Mehta told reporters. In India's nuclear deterrent plans, "placing of nuclear weapons under the sea is the third triad which at present we don't have and we hope at one point we will," he said.

Mehta also said New Delhi was negotiating with Moscow to lease a Russian nuclear-powered submarine, which he said was "to enable our men to train on how to operate nuclear reactors and other platforms."

The announcements came after Mehta said he rejected a Russian request for an additional 1.2 billion dollars to finish a deal struck in 2004 to refurbish a Soviet-era aircraft carrier, Admiral Gorshkov.

He warned Russia, which accounts for 73 percent of India's military supplies, that delays on the carrier work could mean that preferential treatment in future arms deals could be scrapped.

New Delhi, Tuesday, AFP