The visiting German delegation , in an all out effort to hard sell the Eurofighter, has offered to forgo the end user monitoring and on location inspection clauses in an attempt to outbid France. Eurofighter built by the German consortia EADS is among the two finalist in the Indian Air Force MMRCA tender.
The Germans have also established a military research and development center in Bengaluru .
German Chancellor Angela Merkel today making a pitched for the Eurofighter said “We have made good proposals and want to intensify our relations hip with India. The Eurofighter is the best product on offer. We will not exert any influence on the procurement process and we shall wait and see”. She sought enhanced cooperation in defence and security.
Although Germany is offering a lot of flexibility on technology transfer, it is not pushing for US type logistic supply agreement and Communication Interoperability and Security Memorandum of Agreement (CISMOA).
Markel is facing opposition at home for pushing Eurofighter to India. However, former German Defence Minister Karl-Theodorzu Guttenberg (CSU) was quoted saying “Those who are currently now critical at one point or another have, in some cases even made these decisions . There should never be irresponsible export transactions or the like. We have clear guidelines. We have decisions that need by the Federal Security Council. This is the basis of our actions.”