The Indians, stormed "senior government sources," had gone for the "Asda option instead of Waitrose".
By preferring the French Rafale jet rather than the British-built Typhoon, they rejected, according to the Prime Minister, a "superb aircraft with far better capabilities".
How dare they, asked MPs, snub Britain, which had given them £1.2 billion in aid? One newspaper even blamed the decision on the Gandhi family.
The truth about Britain's "failure" to land the £6.3 billion Indian military jet deal — and the thousands of jobs it will sustain - is different. The game is not yet over.
But if we do lose, it will have nothing to do with the Gandhis, or the aid — which, as we report today, the Indians simply do not care about either way. It will be because of our own mistakes.
Senior Indian figures and military aviation experts have told The Sunday Telegraph that British defence cuts played a key part in India's decision to prefer France for the huge 126-warplane contract. But they said the deal could still be rescued for the UK.
"For David Cameron to say that Typhoon has far better capabilities is embarrassing, and I say that as a strong supporter of the aircraft," said Jon Lake, defence editor at Arabian Aerospace magazine, and an expert in Asian procurement.
"It would have been true to say that it has better potential than the Rafale, but thanks to the cheeseparing of our Treasury, and the other Typhoon partner nations' treasuries, that potential has not been realised yet."
Key to the Indian decision, said one senior defence source in Delhi, was the country's wish for a radar and set of weapons which already exist on Rafale — but which are not currently present on Typhoon.
The French jet can launch a wide suite of smart weapons including Scalp, an air-launched cruise missile, Exocet, an anti-ship missile, and AASM, a precision-guided bomb with extended "stand-off" capability allowing it to be dropped from further away, reducing the risk to the pilot from anti-aircraft fire.
It also has an advanced reconnaissance pod and the latest electronic scanned array radar. This combination of capabilities proved highly effective in the recent war over Libya.
Typhoon currently has none of these things. The RAF badly wants the aircraft to have Scalp's British equivalent Storm Shadow — along with the anti-tank Brimstone missile, a reconnaissance pod, and the radar.
These capabilities, apart from the radar, are currently available on the RAF's Tornado jets and were heavily used by the British in Libya. But their arrival on Typhoon has been delayed by defence cuts.
"For the Indians it's all about credibility," said Mr Lake. "If they believe what the Typhoon consortium told them, then by 2018 Typhoon will do everything that Rafale does now. But they clearly don't believe it, and I don't blame them, given the programme's history of delays and cost overruns.
"At the moment, Typhoon can drop a laser-guided bomb, and that's it. The combination of Typhoon and Tornado was quite effective in Libya. But on its own, Typhoon was less versatile than the Rafale."
Tim Ripley, of Jane's Defence Weekly, said: "The RAF are desperate for further weapons on the Typhoon but it is something the Treasury have been trying to avoid doing. This is a crucial test of the Government's export rhetoric. The Indians ask why they should buy this kit for their own aircraft if we won't put it on ours."
Turbulence ahead with Indian jet deal - Telegraph