Suspense mounted over the final price India has to pay Russia for Admiral Gorshkov aircraft carrier after the two countries ended the lockjam over the protracted price negotiations.
India on Tuesday said it would like to wait for formal completion of necessary procedure before declaring that all problems over the deal has been sorted out with Russia.
"We have moved closer to finalising a price but we would like to go through procedures and clearances before making an announcement (of a solution)," Foreign Secretary Miriam Ra told journalists accompanying Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on his return home from Moscow.
A Russian team is currently in New Delhi to firm up issues relating to pricing.
Ra had yesterday said the two countries have successfully ended negotiations on technical issues.
Indian and Russian defence officials have been negotiating the price for the purchase of the refurbished USD 2.2-billion aircraft carrier for several years.
Moscow is now asking for USD 2.9 billion for the aircraft carrier, nearly thrice the price that was originally agreed between the two sides in 2004.
But New Delhi wanted the price to be scaled back to USD 2.1 billion. The official did not disclose what that "satisfactory price" was but said it is between what the two countries were negotiating over.
{{/usCountry}}But New Delhi wanted the price to be scaled back to USD 2.1 billion. The official did not disclose what that "satisfactory price" was but said it is between what the two countries were negotiating over.
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