Norwegian Diplomat Slams US for Indictment of Adani Group

Manas Dasgupta

NEW DELHI, Dec 21: A veteran Norwegian diplomat has slammed the United States indictment of the Adani Group as nothing but an “American overreach” and said it was time the Western nations stopped acting like the arbitrators and judges of the world.

Mr Erik Solheim, a former Minister of Environment of Norway, said on Saturday that the US Department of Justice (DoJ) indictment of Adani Group officials was nothing but a “complete American overreach” and the conglomerate would come back stronger once this was over.

Mr Solheim has served in the Norwegian government from 2005 to 2012 as Minister of International Development and Minister of the Environment, and as Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations and Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Programme from 2016 to 2018. Solheim is a member of the Green Party.

According to the veteran diplomat, if the US has some complaints about the Adani Group, it should have first gone to the Indian government, bring it to their notice and then it should be part of the Indian judicial system and not the US court. He stressed that such an overreach was also harmful as the Adani Group is an important vehicle for the green transformation of India.

“They have enormous plans to establish solar and wind facilities and have large green investments in several Indian states and abroad. The Group has even announced to invest $10 billion in the US for energy security initiatives. All this will be harmed by such indictments,” Mr Solheim said.

The Adani Group has committed $10 billion investment in US energy security and infrastructure projects, aiming to create up to 15,000 local jobs in the country. Mr Solheim further stated that the US must stop such an authoritative approach and rather look into the consequences of such meaningless actions, adding that “I’m sure that the Adani Group will come back even stronger after this.”

Mr Solheim, who served as Executive Director of the UN Environment Programme, said the time was over when Western nations like the United States were the arbitrators and judges of the world. “That is a thing of the past. This must stop,” he added.

Meanwhile Mr Breon Peace, the US Attorney who presented charges against Adani Group officials, has reportedly announced his decision to step down on January 10 – just days away from Donald Trump’s inauguration as the next US President on January 20. In November, the DoJ indicted Adani Group officials on allegations ranging from securities fraud to wire fraud.

The Adani Group has vehemently rejected the allegations as “malicious, mischievous and manipulative selections of publicly available information” to arrive at “predetermined conclusions for personal profiteering with wanton disregard for facts and the law.”