MOSCOW, Nov 5: Russia and India plan to sign the contract for India’s purchase of the Russian aircraft carrier Admiral Gorshkov within weeks, Interfax reported Russian defence officials as saying on Wednesday.

“All technical and financial issues on the Admiral Gorshkov aircraft carrier have been settled and the contract will be signed by December,” the news agency quoted an unnamed official at the Russian defence industry as saying.

“The details of the deal will be clarified during the Moscow visit of an Indian delegation headed by Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee,” the official said.

Vajpayee is to make an official three-day visit to Moscow starting Nov 11, Indian diplomatic sources in the Russian capital said on Monday.

The defence ministry official said the deal would be worth 1.5 billion dollars.—AFP