Is it possible we're making it sound a little too sinister? It's not much different than offering India a sale price or a rebate on the planes, except in this case India is getting the rebate up front and is being asked to use the money to help malnourished Indians. I'm not a lawyer, so maybe there is something terribly wrong with it that I am overlooking, but I simply fail to understand why it is so bad.
As an American, I'm sick of giving tons of taxpayer money to a bunch of perpetually ungrateful foreign countries. So my sympathies almost automatically are with the Brits here -- and I'm not a big fan of Britain nor someone who hates Indians. I'm about as impartial as a person can be.
So? Take a look at the situation from India’s viewpoint:
There was a fair and open bidding contest, involving a couple of high- altitude tests. The British plane displays sub-par performance in critical areas, and you want India to take an existential risk to support British jobs, just because they’ve provided what amounts to a very meagre amount, per-capita, as a deal-sweetener in disguise?
A couple of years ago, India sent aid and aircraft to America during the Katrina debacle. Would you be comfortable with the idea that India might have gained political influence in the American government because of the aid?
Charity in the expectation of returns is never true charity.
Its bad because its not really a rebate. If they really wanted to give a rebate they could have actually offered a rebate on the price of the aircraft. If the so-called “aid” had anything to do with the aircraft deal then maybe the Indians didn't get the hint. The French emerged at the lowest bidder and they won the competition fair and square on all capability parameters. Personally I see the “aid” package as an attempt to bribe the government to peddle and inferior product. I am glad it didnt work.
I m sorry that you feel your tax payer money is going away ungrateful foreign countries. However you dont play by the rules you dont get the correct results. Indian taxpayers also dont want their tax money (a lot more money actually) going to a another county selling inferior product only because they got bribe packaged as “aid”.