Washington, DC, United States (AHN) - There are many more important issues than the Bhopal gas tragedy to tackle at the upcoming Indo-US CEO Forum, but India is much more prepared to tackle "catastrophic" accidents today than it was 25 years ago, according to the head of a top Indian business body.
"This is 25 years back you are talking about it ... I think, we are much more prepared to have a response of a different kind today than we did probably 25 years back," Rajan Bharti Mittal, the president of the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry, told journalists Thursday in Washington, DC.
"I think there are larger issues in India-US CEO Forum that we need to talk about rather than kind of revisiting the past," he said.
"All that we have to keep in mind that the loss of life that has happened and loss of everything that has happened, compensation is something we need to worry about it," the entrepreneur said, adding, "What has happened we must learn from that mistake to make sure we don't get to do it in future."
Mittal said FICCI was developing recommendations to the Indian Government so that Bhopal may never be repeated. The group will be "putting a suggestion paper on what kind of things we need to know? Who are the suppliers beyond it? What is the track record of the suppliers? What kind of insurances those suppliers have taken?"
There was a striking attempt to downplay negligence by the Union Carbide Corp. The FICCI president argued, "it is not only Bhopal. In today's time you can have an oil spill. We can't say that BP is not a company which is not responsible. It can be clearly shown that despite being such a large company and being in this, these things do occur."
Mittal's reaction was lukewarm to reports that Mukesh and Anil Ambani brothers in India are reuniting. "As an Indian entrepreneur and as president of FICCI, I can that this is a move which is welcome as an India growth at the end of the day," he said.
In his concluding remarks to a question, Mittal expressed satisfaction with his two-week visit to the U.S. and said he looked forward to a fruitful relationship in the future.
