Kolkata: In an exercise aimed at mending fences with West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee after conclusion of the Indo-US nuclear deal, American Ambassador to India David Mulford has described him as an “efficient administrator and a great visionary.”
Mulford had been in the eye of a storm after he shot off a letter to Bhattacharjee for his public criticism of US President of George W Bush and his policy, drawing strong reaction from the Chief Minister as well as his party CPI-M which demanded his recall for violating protocol.
"Let's forget that chapter and end the misunderstanding. We should go ahead in the light of the improved Indo-US relations," Mulford said in an interview to a leading Bengali daily on Wednesday.
Expressing his desire to meet Bhattacharjee to end the 'chapter of misunderstanding', Mulford was quoted as having said, "I want to have an audience with Bhattacharjee who is not only an efficient administrator but a great visionary too. I appreciate the way he has ushered in industrialisation in his state."
"He (Bhattacharjee) might have said what he thought fit (criticism of President Bush). I too shot back as I felt but I don't want to dwell on this chapter," he said, adding there was no use sticking to an issue which had become a matter of the past since in a democracy, everyone has the right to speak.
He said since Indo-US bilateral talks had improved "a lot" with the visit of President Bush "we should forget differences of opinion and work in mutual interest".
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