Dep. NSA On Bhopal: "We Want To Avoid . . Put(ting) Chilling Effect On Our Investment Relationship

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Washington, DC, United States (AHN) - The United States on Thursday called the Bhopal Tragedy case closed, while the White House Deputy National Security Advisor told AHN in a statement that his “private correspondence,” reported by an Indian television station about an e-mail exchange with a top Indian official where his remarks that India should cut down on noise about the Bhopal gas tragedy, was misinterpreted.

On December 3, 1984, the Union Carbide pesticide plant in Bhopal, India leaked deadly gas containing methyl isocyanate (MIC) over the city of Bhopal. In the immediate aftermath more than 10,000 people died and subsequently thousand have continued to suffer health consequences. Mike Froman, the White House Deputy National Security Advisor, explained in a statement to AHN on Thursday, “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.”

The controversy was triggered when an Indian media published an email exchange between Froman, and Montek Singh Ahluwalia, Deputy Chairman of the Indian Planning Commission.

EDIT

In response to an Ahluwalia’s email requesting assistance as India faces a sharp restriction in the World Bank’s lending, Froman replied, “We are aware of this issue and we will look into it. We are hearing a lot of noise about the Dow Chemical 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 a chilling effect on our investment relationship.”

EDIT

http://www.allheadlinenews.com/articles/7019644188

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1. Indians, Envious of U.S. Spill Response, Seethe Over Bhopal

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/25/world/asia/25bhopal.html

Indians, Envious of U.S. Spill Response, Seethe Over Bhopal

By LYDIA POLGREEN
Published: June 24, 2010

NEW DELHI — The contrast between the disasters, more than a quarter-century and half a world apart, could not be starker.

In 1984, a leak of toxic gas at an American company’s Indian subsidiary killed thousands, injured tens of thousands more and left a major city with a toxic waste dump at its heart. The company walked away after paying a $470 million settlement. The company’s American chief executive, arrested while in India, skipped bail, never to return. This month eight former senior officials from the company, including one who has since died, were convicted of negligence, but the sentence — two years in jail — seems paltry to many here compared to the impact of their crime.

No matter how halting the Obama administration’s response to the gushing oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico might look to Americans, Indians cannot help but marvel — and envy — the alacrity with which the United States government has acted.

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Now, almost 26 years later, in the face of public outrage prompted by the light criminal sentences and the inescapable contrast with the BP disaster, the Indian government is trying shake off the shadow of Bhopal, an episode that has become synonymous with ineffectual governance and humiliation at the hands of Western capital.

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Mr. Anderson traveled to India in the wake of the disaster in 1984. He was arrested and released on bail, then fled the country. He is still considered an absconder, but has retired comfortably on Long Island.

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