BEIJING (TIP): Pakistan is close to signing a $4 to $5 billion deal to buy eight submarines from China, the Financial Times said on April 2, in what it added would likely be China’s largest overseas arms sale.

The decision had been agreed “in principle”, the newspaper said, citing a hearing in the Pakistani parliament’s defence committee.

Pakistani newspaper the Dawn said on Wednesday that negotiations with China on the sale were at an advanced stage.

Neither China’s Defence nor Foreign Ministries immediately responded to a request for comment.

China and Pakistan call each other “all-weather friends” and their close ties have been underpinned by long-standing wariness of their common neighbour, India, and a desire to hedge against U.S. influence across the region.

China and Pakistan already have close defence ties and China has sold a large amount of military equipment to the country in the past.