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Kolkata, March 7: Once again, America and the nuclear deal may be pushing both the Left and the UPA to the brink in New Delhi but in Kolkata, comrades need to “modernise” and “upgrade.” So while red flags go up in the capital, it was the red carpet here today for a US trade mission from southern California that arrived to “explore” investment opportunities.

The team held a round of “matchmaking business sessions,” as president of the Bengal Chamber of Commerce and Industry S. Radhakrishnan put it.

Its members also met senior government officers to identify areas for partnering in various sectors including infrastructure development, Kolkata airport modernisation — a raw nerve for the Marxists — setting up of a deep sea port, a film city and other “business interests.” About eight West Bengal-based companies participated in talks in other areas like clean energy. The sessions will continue for the next couple of days.

This initiative once again had the stamp of Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, West Bengal Chief Minister. The CM had sent the city’s Mayor Bikash Ranjan Bhattacharya as an emissary to Long Beach, California, last year. On behalf of the CM, Bhattacharya, who belongs to the CPM, extended an invitation to his US hosts.

They responded, visiting Kolkata first in September 2007. They met the Chief Minister in September where he told them about his plans to have the Americans partner in the deep-sea port project, airport modernization — and his “dream” to have a Hollywood-style studio in Kolkata.

This time, the delegation returned with a larger team of 25 members and met officials of the state Commerce and Industries department. It includes representatives of the World Trade Center Association (WTCA), Los Angeles-Long Beach; the Los Angeles County Economic Development Corporation (LAEDC) and bureaucrats from the city of Long Beach.

“They want to check out investment possibilities in the state. They have diverse business interests,” said managing director of the West Bengal Industrial Development Corporation M V Rao.

“We met Port authorities here and the meeting was very encouraging. We have with us the chairman of the Long Beach Port and would like to share our green port standards and our technical expertise,” said Suja Lowenthal, a council member of the city of Long Beach. The team, which also has members of the Los Angeles Board of Airport Commissioners, met officials of the Airports Authority of India (AAI) in Kolkata.

“Ten US delegates met us today and expressed interest in investing in the development of infrastructure, which is part of the modernization plans of the Kolkata airport. The modalities are yet to be worked out but we told them about our needs,” said AAI regional executive director P K Singhal.

Even the Airports Authority of India Employees’ Union (AAEU), which had been protesting the modernization of airports across the country by private players, said that it had “no reservations” against the “use of American companies or technology” for the modernization of Dum Dum airport.

“We do not have any problems if the design for the new buildings come from American companies, as long as the modernization process remains in the domain of AAI,” said M K Ghoshal, AAEU general secretary, instrumental in the strikes at the airport over the issue of modernization.

So isn’t there a dichotomy between this and the stand on the nuclear deal with the US? “So many high-ranking American visitors have been in West Bengal over the last few months and this has nothing to do with the nuclear deal,” says veteran CPM MP Basudeb Acharya. “Our policies are very clear. If the investment generates new employment and brings in better technology to the country that is not available at present, then it’s welcome.”