Russian president Dmitry Medvedev and Manmohan Singh, the Indian prime minister, have signed an agreement to co-operate in the peaceful use of nuclear technology.

Holding talks in Moscow on Monday, the two leaders agreed to permit an increase in atomic fuel exports from Russia's state-owned Rusatom to India.

Sergei Kiriyenko, Rosatom's CEO, said his company would also build several new nuclear power reactors in India, but did not give further details.

The nuclear energy agreement is just one of the deals Singh is expected to sign during his two-day trip to Moscow.

Weapon contracts

India is one of the biggest buyers of Russian weapons, and Singh is due to order billions of dollars worth of helicopters, missiles, and fighter planes.

India recently secured production licenses for T-90 tanks and contracts to provide Russian aircraft with BrahMos missiles.

The countries are building a modern supersonic fighter, equivalent to the US Raptor stealth fighter.

But tension has appeared over the cost of refurbishing the Soviet-built aircraft carrier Admiral Gorshkov for the Indian Navy.