The U.S.-India Business Council has voted to cut ties with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, but Chamber CEO Tom Donohue is insisting the council can't leave without his organization's consent.

USIBC board members voted 29-0 in early July to separate from the business group after "recent actions taken by the Chamber have left us with no alternative but to take this vote to formally separate," according to a statement provided to the Washington Post. The Hill newspaper reported another four members did not vote.

The Chamber established USIBC in 1975 at the request of former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, who sought to strengthen business ties between the two countries. USIBC is currently one of 15 international business councils run by the Chamber.

Current USIBC board members include John Chambers, executive chairman of Cisco Systems; Ajay Banga, CEO of MasterCard; and Indra Nooyi, CEO of PepsiCo. (A list of board members had been removed from the USIBC website as of July 13, but a cached version remains.)

Tensions between the Chamber and USIBC have been brewing since 2010, mainly because the council has sought a level of independence the business group is unwilling to accommodate, according to both the Post and Hill. USIBC hired a new president, Mukesh Aghi, in 2015, and Aghi told the Post he was recently dismissed because he would not report to the Chamber rather than USIBC. The Chamber has said Aghi resigned.

The Chamber also was reportedly upset that USIBC invited Vice President Mike Pence to speak at one of its recent events. The business group had planned to ask Pence to speak at one of its own events. http://wapo.st/2uipdfM

Donohue sought "to set the record straight" in a July 11 letter provided to CEO Update by the Chamber. He said members may have received a letter from Ed Monser, president of Emerson Electric and the council's vice chair, notifying them that "USIBC board members either voted or gave their proxy in support of the creation of a new U.S.-India organization outside of the Chamber."

"I want you to be reassured that, regardless of this curious action, the Chamber's USIBC program is alive and well, and that the Chamber will continue to operate the USIBC robustly to the benefit of its members and the business community, as it always has," Donohue said.

The council's board has no authority to transition USIBC into a fully separate organization, he added.

"Thus, (the Chamber) will not consent to the demands of a group of disaffected individuals who seek to impact the USIBC's entire membership by moving USIBC out of the Chamber, where it has operated for decades, into a new entity," Donohue said.

His statement concluded by noting that Chamber officials planned to meet USIBC advisory board members and other interested parties July 14 "to ensure their understanding of our intention to continue our comprehensive global program of work, of which the USIBC is a key component."

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