Rejecting as 'ridiculous' and 'distorted' the controversy over its warship le Clemenceau heading for Gujarat for dismantling, France has said the ship will return if denied permission and suggested the move could affect improvement of 'standards' of ship-breaking industry in New Delhi.
On the eve of the Supreme Court hearing on the issue, French Ambassador Dominique Girard asserted that the ship contained much less asbestos (toxic waste) than has been projected by the critics but if the Indian government and the apex court wanted, Paris was ready to take back the waste.
The entry of the decommissioned warship into India has been barred till Monday by the Supreme Court, which on January 16 said it will not allow the vessel to be scrapped in Gujarat until the Customs Department clarified its stand on the controversial issue.
"We do not want the pollution of Indian waters," the court had observed, adding, "Ultimately, if we decide against, they (Clemenceau) have to go back."
The ship is at present anchored at Tgiduti Bay in Arabian Sea.
Pitching for the ship's entry, days after his visit to ship-breaking site Alang in Gujarat, Girard said the whole issue had been 'blown out of proportion' and rejected the charge that ship was heading to Alang to dump waste.
"It (charge that the ship will dump waste) is ridiculous. We are bringing the ship that will be recycled. We are bringing steel to this country," he told PTI in an interview, part of which was issued on Friday last.
Asked what France will do if the Supreme Court decided not to allow the ship to enter India, the Ambassador said, "If the Supreme Court says we do not want the ship in India, okay we will take note of it. We cannot bring the ship by force."
The controversy will not give any 'additional element' to the relations between India and France and a 'normal solution should be found,' Girard said, adding, "If Indian authorities so desired, we will take back asbestos."
He charged that those opposing the entry were 'not telling the truth' and were saying things about quantity of asbestos (waste) on the ship without any evidence.
Insisting that the asbestos contents on the ship had been removed substantially back in France, Girard said, "It contains much less asbestos than any other ship of that type or kind because we have already treated it. The ship is much safer than when it was coming as fully operational warship. The allegation that the ship is carrying several hundred tonnes of asbestos is ridiculous."
Greenpeace, which has been spearheading the opposition to the ship's entry into India, has been arguing that it contained toxic wastes and its breaking in Alang could harm the environment and workers. Its activists even staged a demonstration outside the French Embassy in New Delhi a few days ago to register their protest.
Girard said bringing the ship here for breaking will make the ship-breaking industry to improve its standard. "Definitely if the ship is allowed in, the ship-breaking industry in India will improve very much for the benefit of the industry, which is not healthy at present, and benefit workers," he said.
During the January 16 Supreme Court hearing, the owners of Clemenceau gave an undertaking that they will not bring the vessel within 220 nautical miles of the Indian coast that forms the Exclusive Economic Zone till further orders. The court wanted to know from the parties why the French authority had not allowed the dismantling of the ship in that country when they had technology to do so.
The ship had set sail on December 31 heading towards Alang but after the Supreme Court observation, it had been halted at high seas. Those opposing the entry of the ship contended that dumping of hazardous waste in this manner was violation of the Basel international treaty, which bars transfer of such waste from country to another.
