US envoy tells Bengal comrades some home truths

US envoy tells Bengal comrades some home truths
SANTANU BANERJEE

CALCUTTA, JAN 13: The ruling Left Front tried to put US Ambassador Richard Celeste on the defensive by referring to a ``US plan to topple the government'', but instead got a barrage of criticism that had Marxists red in the face.

Celeste, who was in Calcuta to address the West Bengal Federation of United Nations Associations and the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association, told the audience of businessmen, state legislators and dipolomats that West Bengal needed to change its work culture if it wanted to attract foreign investment.

His remarks came after Speaker Hasim Abdul Halim, citing former envoy Daniel Moynihan's memoir, referred to the ``old story'' of how the US funded the ``plan to topple the Left governments in Kerala and West Bengal.''

``So far I know in my capacity as a US ambassador, whatever Moynihan said in his memoir, the USA hadn't spent a single paisa and will not spend a paisa to promote any political parties in India,'' said Celeste.

And then he launched into a stinging critique of West Bengal as an investment destination. But not before he said that it had been a ``disappointment to me and to the US diplomatic mission to India that the fruits of recent economic growth have not flowed more generously to West Bengal and east India.''

``In fact, I have just come just come from a meeting with the Chief Minister. I reminded him that Calcutta has been visited in the past six weeks by two trade delegations from the United States. Just last week, Ron Summers, the Indian head of the UNOCAL, a major US oil company met with Christopher Sandrolini, our Consul General here in Calcutta. His firm is eager to do business in West Bengal. But the day of his visit, Calcutta came to a standstill as the result of a bandh.''

Celeste continued: ``A reputation for calling bandhs, and for a less than robust work culture, creates an unpredictable labour environment that discourages investment. It is only when West Bengal can provide improved infrastructure along with stable labour conditions, supported by government policies that are consistent, transparent and evenly applied, that this state can begin to catch the wave of economic development that is sweeping over other areas of the country.''