MOSCOW // The Russian president, Vladimir Putin, is expected to announce about US$7 billion (Dh26bn) worth of weapons sales to India when he visits the country next week, according to defence industry sorces.
During Putin's visit on Monday, the two countries will announce contracts for 42 Sukhoi Su-30MKI jets, made by United Aircraft's Irkut Corporation, and almost 1,000 AL-31 warplane engines in a deal that runs until 2030, sources said.
Mr Putin's spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, declined to comment on the deal.
India, Russia's leading arms customer, has at least doubled its defence budget over the past decade as it looks beyond its traditional rivalry with Pakistan to counter China's rising power.
Mr Putin, who returned to the presidency this year, has spearheaded Russia's efforts to fend off competition for the contracts from the United States and Europe.
"These will be truly historical deals if signed," said Konstantin Makiyenko, the deputy head of the Moscow-based Center for the Analysis of Strategies and Technologies.
"I don't remember a contract for 1,000 engines at all and deals for more than 40 planes happen twice in a decade."
Russian defence-industry exports have exceeded $14bn this year, higher than the government's target, Mr Putin said yesterday. The country had signed new contracts worth $15bn, he added.
The then-defence minister Anatoly Serdyukov said on October 10 that Russia expected to sign a deal to ship 42 Sukhoi jets to India by the end of the year.