Bhopal not on agenda during US trip: Montek
By IANSWednesday, June 16, 2010
NEW DELHI - Bhopal was “not on the agenda” of the Indian delegation travelling to the US next week for trade talks, Planning Commision Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia clarified Wednesday.
“Absolutely not,” Ahluwalia told reporters when asked if Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee, who is leading the delegation, would meet Dow Chemical chief Andrew Liveris at the India-US CEO forum in Washington June 22.
“…the government delegation will have a meeting with the US government on a wide range of issues,” said the Planning Commision official who is also part of the high level delegation that will be in the US June 22-25.
Dow Chemical acquired Union Carbide in 2001, seven years after toxic gases leaked from the Union Carbide plant in Bhopal on the night of Dec 2-3, killing an estimated 20,000 people since.
There have been demands in India for making the US-based company pay compensation for the world’s worst industrial disaster.
