OPINION

China's carrier should worry India

News, Mihir Sharma, Published on 27/04/2017

» The launch of China's second aircraft carrier this week is an important and depressing moment for India. The "Type 001A" -- likely to be named the Shandong -- will give China an edge for the first time in the carrier race with its Asian rival, a literal two-to-one advantage. After decommissioning the INS Viraat earlier this year, the Indian navy is down to a single carrier, INS Vikramaditya. Worse, the Shandong has been built at China's own giant shipyard at Dalian; Vikramaditya is merely a re-purposed 1980s-era Russian carrier formerly known as the Admiral Gorshkov.