webmaster
© Copyright DEHAI-Eritrea OnLine, 1993-2010
All rights reserved
From: wolda002@umn.edu
Date: Fri Aug 20 2010 - 20:34:33 EDT
Bhopal: US warns India to back off
* From: The Times
* August 21, 2010 12:00AM
INDIA has been warned that it risks its investment relationship with the US
if it seeks justice from the company behind the 1984 Bhopal gas tragedy.
Michael Froman, President Barack Obama's deputy national security adviser
for international economic affairs, told an Indian counterpart in an email:
"We are hearing a lot of noise about the Dow Chemical (Company) issue. I
trust that you are monitoring it carefully."
Mr Froman, who is a close friend of the President and is regarded as one of
the most influential technocrats in Washington, added: "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."
The email comments were made to Montek Singh Ahluwalia, the deputy chairman
of India's Planning Commission. The correspondence, which apparently
referred to a surge of anger in India this year over a lack of justice for
Bhopal victims, was obtained by an Indian television channel. Neither
country has denied its authenticity.
In the email exchange, Mr Ahluwalia had been canvassing for US support for
Indian access to loans from the World Bank. Mr Froman's apparent linking of
that issue to Bhopal has caused uproar in India.
In 1984, a leak from a Union Carbide pesticide plant in Bhopal, Madhya
Pradesh, killed about 3500 people, according to the Indian government.
Activists say the gas killed at least 25,000 and caused illness, including
cancer, blindness and birth defects, in up to 500,000 more.
India originally tried to sue Union Carbide for $US3.3 billion in damages
in the US, but agreed to accept $US470 million in compensation in an
out-of-court settlement in 1989. In 2001 the company was bought by Dow
Chemical, another US corporation, which said the legal case had been
resolved.
Indian anger over the tragedy was reignited in June when seven former Union
Carbide managers were convicted for negligence, but sentenced to only two
years in jail and fined 100,000 rupees. Each was allowed to remain free on
bail pending appeal. The lenient sentences led to renewed calls in India
for the extradition of Warren Anderson, Union Carbide's elderly former
chairman, who lives near New York. Activist groups also want Dow Chemical
to pay further damages.
An advocacy group for Bhopal victims criticised Mr Froman's comments,
saying the Obama administration was "not pursuing the same levels of
accountability from American Dow Chemical as it has from BP" over the Gulf
of Mexico oil spill.
The leaked email showed the administration "values profit over people, when
the profit benefits American corporations", the International Campaign for
Justice in Bhopal said in a statement.
"Froman's statement shows callous disregard for ongoing injustice and lack
of accountability 26 years after the disaster," it said.
Mr Obama is due to visit India in November. Analysts have suggested that
ties between the two countries, which were strongly reinforced by George W.
Bush, have deteriorated.
The White House insisted the email did not link the Bhopal tragedy with the
issue of economic ties. "While we are not going to comment on specific
content of emails, the assertion that there was a linkage between two
separate and distinct issues is wrong," said Mike Hammer, the National
Security Council spokesman.
"We recognise the importance and sensitivity of the Bhopal issue in India.
We are committed to building a strong and deep strategic partnership
between India and the US."