Beijing: Pakistan is close to signing a $4 to $5 billion deal to buy eight submarines from China, the Financial Times said on Thursday, 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.