UNITED KINGDOM: British Prime Minister David Cameron eyes jet deal ahead of India trade trip

Record ID: 375604

  • Title: UNITED KINGDOM: British Prime Minister David Cameron eyes jet deal ahead of India trade trip
  • Date: 17th February 2013
  • Summary: FARNBOROUGH, ENGLAND, UNITED KINGDOM (FILE - JULY 19, 2010) (REUTERS) TYPHOON EUROFIGHTER TAKING OFF SPECTATORS EUROFIGHTER IN FLIGHT LE BOURGET, FRANCE (FILE - JUNE 20, 2011) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF RAFALE STAND WITH RAFALE FIGHTER AT PARIS AIR SHOW (HELD AT PARIS-LE BOURGET AIRPORT) SOLENZARA, CORSICA, FRANCE (FILE - MARCH 24, 2011) (REUTERS) FRENCH RAFALE FIGHTER J
  • Embargoed: 4th March 2013 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: India
  • Country: India
  • Topics: Business,International Relations,Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVAD46S2OD0PP407M3LG7KFZS5NP
  • Story Text: British Prime Minister David Cameron will arrive in India on Monday (February 18) to try to win new trade and investment in the face of fierce global competition, hoping New Delhi may change its mind and choose the Eurofighter - which is partly built in Britain - over France's rival Rafale jet.
    Making his second visit to India as prime minister, Cameron's trip comes days after a similar trade promotion mission by French President Francois Hollande, underlining how Europe's debt-stricken states are competing with one another to tap into one of the world's fastest-growing economies.
    The timing of Cameron's trip is not ideal. India said on Friday it wanted to cancel a $750 million deal for a dozen helicopters made by AgustaWestland, the Anglo-Italian subsidiary of Italy's Finmeccanica, over bribery claims.
    That will not make Cameron's job of persuading India to buy more civil and military hardware any easier.
    But at a time when Britain's government is struggling to get its own economy growing, officials see India, which is projected to become the world's third largest economy by 2050, as a strategic partner whose success could help the British economy grow in the decades ahead.
    Cameron's visit to India, a country that won independence from Britain in 1947 and whose colonial history remains a sensitive subject for many Indians, will last from Feb. 18 to Feb. 20 and take in New Delhi and Mumbai.
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