US senator's remarks on Infosys unfortunate: Govt

NEW DELHI: Government today termed as "unfortunate and avoidable" remarks by a US senator describing India's IT major Infosys as "chop shop".

"Infosys is one of the leading companies. It has a global name and brand. Any disparaging remark, I would term it unfortunate and avoidable," Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma said in the Rajya Sabha.

He was responding to a concern raised Shantaram Laxman Naik (Cong) on the remarks by Democrat Senator of New York Charles E Schumer.

Sharma said while MPs and senators in different countries have right to make observations, "Indian IT industry has made notable contribution and has acknowledged global presence."

Participating in a debate on the Trademark bill, Naik said, "The US senator referred to our company as a 'chop shop'. We never called US a 'banana republic' when it was facing the worst global economic crisis...we could have called Union Carbide as 'slaughter house', but we didn't say so."

Criticising companies outsourcing American jobs, Schumer had last week described Infosys as a "chop shop", a place where stolen cars are dismantled and parts sold separately.