According to a source, the decision may be fuelled by recent arrests of several top officials in the alleged embezzlement of US $ 237 million from funds intended for the supply of MiG-29 fighter planes to India.

The issue is expected to be raised here during the fifth meeting of the Indo-Russian Working Group on military and technical cooperation, scheduled from November 10 to 12.

A nine-member defence delegation, led by Defence secretary Ajit Kumar, is arriving in Moscow on Monday, and includes high-ranking officers from all wings of the armed forces.

``The reported siphoning off of the money given in advance to Russians for fulfillment of a government contract to supply India with the fighters, imparts a shady character to the entire Indo-Russian defence cooperation, although it's purely Russia's internal matter and has nothing to do with India,'' the sourcesaid.

``Other spheres of Indo-Russian cooperation have so far not been infected with rampant Russian corruption,'' he said, adding, ``The exposure of embezzlement and alleged involvement of high officials in the MiG scam reflects badly on the audience back home in India.''

The meeting was scheduled to take place in the first week of October, but was postponed at the last minute because of the Kosovo crisis and possible North Atlantic Treaty Organisation airstrikes on Belgrade.

A review of the fulfillment of decisions of the last Joint Working Group meeting and projection of the road map for long-term defence cooperation between India and Russia are on top of the agenda.

The sides are likely to finalise the draft of a long-term agreement on bilateral defence cooperation. Indian and Russian officials have been working on the agreement ever since former Defence minister Mulayam Singh Yadav first proposed during his visit to Moscow in October 1997 to extend the current agreement, which expires in2000.

The defence agreement is one of a number of key documents expected to be signed during the forthcoming three-day visit of Russian President Boris Yeltsin to Delhi, starting tentatively on December 6.

The agreement will cover the entire gamut of Indo-Russian defence cooperation, including the sale of military hardware, production cooperation, global and regional security concerns into the 21st century.

The Indian side is expected to ``acquaint'' the Russians with the list of possible military equipment India would require from Russia in the near future, one source said.

India is learnt to have sought Russian cooperation in substantially strengthening its Navy on a priority basis, for which India plans to purchase from Russia KA-30 helicopter gunships.

During the talks, Kumar will call on Russian Defence Minister lgor Serveyev. First Deputy Defence Minister Nikolai Mikhailov will lead the Russian sideat the talks.