His government buffeted by Choppergate, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has conveyed his “serious concerns” to visiting British Prime Minister David Cameron about charges that kickbacks were paid in the AgustaWestland helicopter deal. The British leader responded to India’s concerns by stating that the UK has strong anti-bribery legislation and will respond to any request for information that New Delhi might seek.
The issue of AgustaWestland, an Anglo-Italia subsidiary of Italian conglomerate Finmecc-anica currently in the eye of a storm here over the alleged kickbacks paid to middlemen came up during the discussions held between the two PMs here on Tuesday.
Dr Singh said after the meeting that he conveyed to the British Prime Minister “our very serious concerns regarding allegations about unethical means used in securing the 2010 contract for AgustaWestland helicopters”.
The PM added: “I told him that we have sought an explanation from the company by February 22 to examine if the contractural provisions on unethical practices and the Integrity pact have been violated.” Stating that he has sought the “full cooperation” of the UK in the case, the PM also said the British PM had “assured me of the cooperation of his government in the investigations”.
The UK government is anxious about the possible fallout of the raging controversy surrounding AgustaWestland as the helicopters are manufactured in the UK and scrapping of the deal may mean job cuts there. Mr Cameron declared: “Let me make it absolutely clear that in Britain we have introduced anti-bribery legislation that is probably the strongest anywhere in the world and we will root out any problems of bribery or corruption wherever they appear and whenever they appear.”
He added: “I am glad that the Italian authorities are looking into this issue in detail as Finmeccanica, the parent company of AgustaWestland, is an Italian company.”