Indian PM arrives in Russia for arms, nuclear deals

By Guy Faulconbridge

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh arrived in Moscow on Sunday to ink billions of dollars of weapons deals and for talks on a landmark nuclear deal that could significantly widen atomic fuel imports from Russia.

India, along with China, is one of Russia's biggest clients for arms sales but New Delhi has been upset in recent years by long delays in the delivery of a refurbished Soviet-era aircraft carrier under a $1.6 billion (9.72 million pounds) contract.

The signing of arms deals and talks on a civilian nuclear deal to widen uranium fuel deliveries are set to take centre stage in the three-day visit, officials said.

Singh met Russian President Dmitry Medvedev for an informal dinner after arrival on Sunday and is also set to meet Russia's powerful prime minister, Vladimir Putin.

"Cooperation in the field of defence has been a very important aspect of our cooperation with Russia," Singh told the Russia Today English-language television channel. "We have been able to get equipment and technologies from Russia which were not available to us from any other countries."

Russia and India, which in October agreed the outlines of a 10-year weapons deal that could be worth at least $10 billion, are building a modern supersonic fighter aircraft invisible to radars like the U.S. F-22 Raptor stealth fighter.

Singh may sign weapons orders including a $1 billion deal for 80 Russian Mi-17 helicopters and contracts for fitting Brahmos missiles onto Russian-made Sukhoi fighter planes, Indian officials have said.

Long delays to the Admiral Gorshkov aircraft carrier have soured ties with some of India's military top brass. In July Medvedev took the rare step of publicly scolding the Russian shipbuilder for the delays.