Cameron was responding to a query from Labour MP Tom Watson in the House of Commons on Wednesday. Watson had asked why the prime minister didn’t ask Lords Geoffrey Howe and Leon Brittan (former foreign and home secretaries) what was agreed at the time and “whether it had anything to do with the Westland Helicopter deal at the time”.

Cameron said, “I fear that the honourable member may have got a conspiracy theory too far.” He, however, quickly added, “It’s very important that we get to the bottom of what had happened.”

He added, “That’s why I have asked the cabinet secretary to lead the review. He will establish the facts, find out the truth, and the results will be made public.” In response to a question from another Labour MP, Pat McFadden from Wolverhampton South East, he confirmed:

“The findings will be made public.” Back in 1984, there was a widespread speculation that the British government was putting undue pressure on India to agree to the purchase of 21 Westland 30 helicopters for oil exploration duties. The lucrative deal was linked to a British government grant of £65 million, but the helicopters soon proved unsuitable and the entire fleet was grounded in 1991. Some of the grounded helicopters are still believed to be in storage somewhere in India.

Earlier this week, newly released British government documents confirmed that Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher had decided to respond favourably to an Indian request for specialist British military advice from elite SAS military commandos on removing Sikh militants from the Golden Temple.

BJP Fall, principal private secretary to the British foreign secretary, said in a letter written in February 1984: “The Indian authorities recently sought British advice over a plan to remove Sikh extremists from the Golden Temple in Amritsar. The foreign office decided to respond favourably to the Indian request and, with the prime minister’s agreement, an SAD (SAS) officer has visited India and drawn up a plan which has been approved by Ms Gandhi. The foreign secretary believes the Indian government may put the plan into operation shortly.”

At the time there was no knowledge of any forthcoming British military help for storming the Golden Temple, but there was plenty of discussion about other British-Indian commercial military deals in the pipeline.

A spokesman for the prestigious Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) told the Tribune, “India has been a major arms importer for many years, including in the 1980s. The UK arms industry has also always been heavily competing for Indian arms orders and India was certainly a key market for the British arms industry in the 1980s. For example, in the mid-1985-86 India acquired a secondhand refitted aircraft carrier (procured 1986) and 18 sea harrier combat aircraft to operate from Indian aircraft carriers from the UK.

“These deals together were worth somewhere in the region of $500m or more at the time. This was the biggest order for UK weapons from India in 1984-85 and the years immediately following. There were also some smaller sales of major arms and possibly other deals for other types of military equipment. Furthermore, India was making decisions about other major arms procurement projects for which UK companies were competing against others.”

New Delhi, January 15
Former Additional Director of the Research & Analysis Wing B Raman notes in his memoirs that at the request of the then RAW Chief RN Kao, two officers of the British Security Service (MI-5) had visited the Golden Temple as tourists and advised then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi to be patient and avoid action or use of police force.

There is no mention of a visit by members of the elite Special Air Service (SAS) of the UK, as mentioned in the latest controversy over its possible involvement in the military operation of 1984.

Recalling the run-up to the Operation Bluestar by the Indian Army to flush out Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale and his armed men from the sacred place, Raman notes there was “some unease” in the intelligence community over the wisdom of the proposed course of action.