British Prime Minister David Cameron on Wednesday said in the House of Commons that Eurofighter was not out of contention for the Indian Air Force fighter deal.
“I am very disappointed by what has happened in India,” Mr Cameron said in reply to a question by Labour MP Mark Hendrick, who during the weekly Question Time pulled up the coalition government on the UK’s failure to land a contract from India for the Typhoon fighter jet.
However, Mr Cameron said that the Eurofighter was still in the contention. “Eurofighter is not out of the contest yet and we need to reengage as hard as we can to make sure that we get the best deal for all those workers making Eurofighters in Britain.”
He dismissed the criticism that he had not helped the Eurofighter, which is built by a four-nation consortium of Germany, UK, Italy and Spain, to land the contract.
“All European leaders are actually backing the Eurofighter project. It’s a German project, it’s a Spanish project, it’s an Italian project, it’s a British project and that’s how it should be.”
Labour MP Alison Seabeck raised the Typhoon issue again and asked Mr Cameron how many times he had spoken to the Indian Prime Minister about the bid. Mr Cameron said he had raised the issue repeatedly.
“I raised the issue with the Indian Prime Minister repeatedly during my visit to India and indeed at the G20 at Cannes,” he said.