Bhopal, August 20: Denying linking Bhopal gas tragedy issue with the India’s request for loan, the Deputy National Security Advisor Mike Froman on Thursday said that the United States does not seek to interfere in the process of resolving Bhopal issue.
“Resolving the Bhopal issue is for the Indian people to decide. The US does not seek to interfere in this process,” Deputy National Security Advisor Mike Froman said in statement Thursday in response to an Indian news report.
He said that nor he did link these two separate and distinct issues link between what are two separate and distinct neither he issued any sort of threat to anyone.
His statement came against the backdrop of reports that he had emailed to the Planning Commission Deputy Chairman, Montek Singh Ahluwalia, in which he had written that that “voices” regarding American company Dow Chemicals could have a “chilling” impact on the investment relations.
“With regard to recent reports about my private correspondence with Mr. Ahluwalia, I want to make clear that I was not making any link between what are two separate and distinct issues nor issuing a ‘threat’ of any sort – any assertion to the contrary is absolutely wrong, both in intent and in fact,” Froman stated.
“I am dismayed to think that anything I wrote could be interpreted as minimizing the toll of the Bhopal disaster. The human suffering as a result of Bhopal is a terrible tragedy,” he said.
Froman said he valued “the opportunity I have to work with Mr. Ahluwalia and others in India to strengthen and deepen the ties between our two countries, both bilaterally and through the G20.”
“Such efforts are key to building our strategic partnership and facing our common challenges together for the benefit of both our peoples.”
At the State Department, spokesman Phillip Crowley also rejected the suggestion that Froman’s e-mail to Ahluwalia had any connection with the Bhopal issue.
“We don’t normally comment about internal e-mails,” he said. “However, I believe the Indian official involved in that e-mail exchange has, himself, indicated that the subject of the e-mail was an upcoming issue of importance to India and that there was no connection to any other issue.”
“Obviously, we have interacted with the Indian Government on the Bhopal issue,” Crowley said. “On an ongoing basis going back many years, we have expressed our sympathy and concern about the impact that this had on the people of India. But this exchange, the link that was suggested is not there.”
According to the Indian news report, responding to Ahluwalia’s request for US support in getting World Bank loans, Froman wrote: “While I’ve got you, we are hearing a lot of noise about the Dow Chemicals issue. I trust that you are monitoring it carefully.”
“I am not familiar with all the details but I think we want to avoid developments which put chilling effect on our investment relationship,” the e-mail added.
—Agencies