By IANS
New Delhi : Refusing to bury its differences with the government over the India-US nuclear deal and the strategic relations between the two countries, the Left Monday openly attacked Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for his proximity with Washington.
In campaign material released ahead of the Left-organised marches protesting the quadrilateral naval exercises in the Bay of Bengal beginning Tuesday, the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) said the nuclear deal should be “seen as a part of the Manmohan Singh government’s attempt to integrate India more closely with the US”.
The Left parties have announced two marches from Kolkata and Chennai to Vishakapatnam Sep 4-8, the days the Indian Navy will be for the first time conducting joint exercises with the navies of US Australia, Japan and Singapore in the Bay of Bengal.
In one of the pamphlets, the Left has described Manmohan Singh as US President George W. Bush’s best friend. The Left bloc’s attack comes two days after Congress president Sonia Gandhi declared her solid support to the government’s nuclear agreement with the US.
The four folders the CPI-M has prepared for the “common man” explain the Left’s objections to the nuclear deal and the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government’s foreign policy. The folders affirm the Left would not support any strategic partnership with the US.
“The obsession with strategic partnership with the US is driven by a belief that the US will ‘help’ India become a ‘superpower’. This distorted ‘great power’ ambition of the Indian policy makers is based on an acceptance of US hegemony and an abandoning of the long cherished goals of Non-Alignment,” one of the pamphlets said.
Taking strong exception to the government’s claim that it would not be bound by the Hyde Act, which was passed by the US Congress in 2006, the CPI-M said: “The Hyde Act made nuclear trade with India conditional upon the US president ensuring, and annually certifying, that India’s foreign policy was in line with US interests, that it would work closely with the US to isolate or even sanction Iran, that it would formally declare support to the controversial Proliferation Security Initiative including interdiction in international waters.”
The CPI-M-led Left parties have opposed the 123 agreement between India and the US, saying that it would not be in the national interest.
Although the standoff between the UPA and the communists, who extend crucial support to Manmohan Singh’s government, has reached a point where the government’s stability has been threatened, both sides have decided to appoint a committee to look into the concerns expressed by the Left over the nuclear pact.