Friday, November 11 2005 10:42 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Washington: The US has said it has no comment on the issue relating to Natwar Singh, who has been divested of his External Affairs Ministry portfolio in the wake of the Volcker Committee report, and asserted that its 'excellent and outstanding' relations with India would continue notwithstanding changes in personnel.

"Frankly, I don't have any comment on the specific case of the gentleman (Natwar Singh) in question. This is an issue for the institutions of India to address," US State Department acting spokesman Adam Ereli told reporters here.

"As far as dealing with the Government of India goes, as I said before, we have close and excellent and outstanding relations with our partners in the Government of India and we expect that changes in personnel, notwithstanding, those relations are going to continue", he said.

When asked if US Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice had talked to anybody in India or was contacted, Ereli said, "No".

"America has made it clear that in dealing with the Oil-for-Food scandal, what we seek and what we believe in are a full presentation of the facts and understanding of the facts and accountability for those who were involved in wrongdoing. That process of investigation and accountability are in the hands of others", the acting spokesman said.