In late February 2020, just days before the coronavirus pandemic sent global markets into freefall, a group of US business executives met the national security adviser to India’s prime minister Narendra Modi in secret at the plush Hotel Plaza Athénée in Paris.
The group had been battling the Indian government for years over the cancellation in 2011 of a telecoms contract held by its company, Devas Multimedia. Having won a key tribunal decision ordering India to pay Devas more than $500mn in damages, plus hundreds of millions of dollars in interest, they hoped a compromise payout could be struck.
After two days of negotiations led to a provisional agreement for India to pay Devas “hundreds of millions of dollars”, the government suddenly walked away, without explanation, according to people familiar with the matter.