By IANS
New Delhi : The Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) Friday took strong exception to New Delhi’s proposal to hold a joint naval exercise with the US, as part of a multilateral exercise in September, saying it signified close strategic military cooperation with Washington.
“This is a serious development. The UPA (United Progressive Alliance) government has been forging a close strategic military cooperation with the US without any public debate or explanation,” the CPI-M said in a statement here.
India has announced a joint naval exercise with the US, Japan, Australia and Singapore in the Bay of Bengal in September.
“This is a step towards India being drawn into the already existing trilateral military cooperation between the US, Japan and Australia,” the politburo statement said, adding that preparations have been going on for a quadrilateral framework for security cooperation involving India and these countries.
Pointing out that the proposal came in the wake of USS Nimitz, a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier docking in Chennai port, the communists alleged that the naval joint exercise was a part of the “implementation of the new framework for defence relationship signed by the UPA government” in July last year.
“Japan and Australia are close military allies of the US. India is now moving to join them,” the CPI-M, which has been at loggerheads with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s government for its foreign policies, alleged.
The CPI-M also said the new move would be harmful to India’s strategic interests.