No linkage between Bhopal and investment ties with India: US

Lalit K Jha
Washington, Aug 19 (PTI) The US has dismissed as
"incorrect" reports that it is linking India's efforts to seek
more compensation from the Union Carbide in the Bhopal gas
tragedy with the bilateral investment ties, saying it is
committed to building a strong relationship with the country.
"The assertion that there was linkage between two
separate and distinct issues is wrong, is incorrect," Benjamin
Chang, Deputy Spokesperson of the National Security Council in
the White House, told PTI.
Chang was responding to a question about reports in India
that a senior US official has asked New Delhi not to persist
with its efforts to seek more compensation for the 1984 Bhopal
gas tragedy victims from Union Carbide so as to avoid any
"chilling" in the investment ties between the two countries.
Such a message was apparently conveyed by US Deputy
National Security Advisor Michael Froman in an e-mail to
Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia,
according to the reports.
Chang, however, refused to make any comment on the
content of the communication, but asserted that making any
link between two separate issues is incorrect.
"We are not going to comment on the specific contents on
e-mails," Chang said, adding that any effort to conclude
that there is any linkage between two separate issues is
wrong.
"We certainly recognise the importance and sensitivity of
this issue in India. We are committed to building a strong,
broad and deep relationship between our two countries as you
know," he said. (More) PTI