The Business Standard said the two longstanding military partners had been negotiating over the past six months for New Delhi to buy 30 MiG-29M and 35 SU-30 fighters worth $1.8 billion.
The proposed deal was cut back after technical-level talks between the two sides broke down, the newspaper said. The Indian government balked at the larger order because Moscow was unwilling to agree to a complete transfer of technology, it said.
The aircraft will be delivered over three months against a special credit arrangement negotiated during a visit by Prime Minister P.V. Narasimha Rao to Moscow in June 1994.
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