It's not about loosing out on the current book orders but the slew of potential book orders, such as the FGFA follow ons and upgrades, P75i- for which they are pitching amur, Armata platform which will be pitched as a contender for the FICV platform, article 30 engine variant which will be pitched for eventually for AMCA, K77 Aesa, follow on A50, along with MRTA, the potential order is in the range of 75 Billion dollars over the next 12 years, why would Russia risk change in attitude or re-aligning it's market to tap some thing which would be in the range of 25 billion dollars in the next 12-15 years in pakistan.
From the leverage side of it, yes India does have a certain amount of leverage not as exagerrated as blanket statements as put here, but not directly on the government but on the bureaus like Raduga OKB, Mashinostroeyenia OKB, NPO Saturn, Irkut Corp, Ilyushin, RAC etc. With single-handedly keeping Projects like the Mig29M, R27 Avtomatika 9B-1032 PRGS27, K172, KH353M24 ship launched version, RGS 31 A2G 4th gen seeker alive. In other words, India more than a buyer has been a valuable partner for these organisations. So moving away from that just becuase India has sourced some euro aircrafts, which India has traditionally done (Mirage, Jaguar, Ouragon, Hawker Hunter, Gnat, vampire, AMX 30, Chieftien, vickers mk1, )even with Russian equipment forming the backbone is a misnomer....