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marxistindia
news from the cpi(m)
July 21, 2009

Press Statement

The Polit Bureau of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) has issued
the following statement:

On Indo-US Joint Statement

The Indo-US joint statement issued after the visit of US Secretary of
State, Hillary Clinton, seeks to deepen the strategic alliance between
the two countries. Despite the high sounding phrases about transforming
the relationship to "enhance global prosperity and stability in the 21st
century", the contents and the agreements arrived at raises questions
whether they are in the interests of India.

The Indian Foreign Minister announced that both sides have reached
agreement on the End Use Monitoring for US defence equipment. Such an
arrangement will facilitate on site inspection of military equipment
supplied by the United States. The growing military collaboration with
India is the key US interest. It wants India to buy billions of dollars
of military equipment. The Assistant Secretary of State, Philip J.
Crowley, had told the press on the eve of the visit of Ms. Clinton that
the End Use Monitoring agreement "is part of the fulfillment of an
important initiative that India and the US have signed in the area of
nuclear co-operation".

The CPI(M) has always maintained that the nuclear deal is a
quid-pro-quofor India becoming a military ally of the United States. The
End Use Monitoring arrangement will further bind the Indian armed forces
to the Pentagon.

On the Indo-US nuclear deal, despite the disclaimer by the Secretary of
State, the United States is moving to deny India access to enrichment
and reprocessing technology. This is what the recent G-8 decision
amounts to. Further India has yet to reach an agreement with the United
States for reprocessing spent fuel supplied by the US. The Manmohan
Singh government had earlier committed to buy 10,000 megawatts of US
nuclear reactors. The United States wants to bring the nuclear deal
within the global non-proliferation architecture. The CPI(M) reiterates
that India should not enter into any commercial agreement to buy US
nuclear reactors till all these matters are cleared up.

The joint statement underlines that US business interests will have
priority in Indian policy making. This is going to be formalised with
the bilateral investment treaty and the pursuit of the Indo-US Joint CEO
Forum. The Manmohan Singh government will be pushing for more FDI in
insurance, banking, higher education and other sectors in line with
these lobbying forums.

It is obvious that the US Secretary of State has pressed India to adopt
a hostile stand towards Iran. With the gas pipeline deal with Iran
shelved, the US wants India to take further steps to isolate Iran. Such
pressures should be resisted. On the Doha round of talks on WTO, India
cannot accept the pressure to give up its stand on agriculture and
investment related matters. There should be no giving into the US demand
on climate change talks which requires India to cut carbon emissions
without serious steps being taken by the developed countries to do so.

By reiterating the earlier Bush-Manmohan Singh commitment to promote
"democracy" on a global scale, the Congress-led government has shown
itself willing to go alongwith this ideological enterprise of the United
States.

The CPI(M) expresses its strong opposition to the growing strategic
entanglement with the United States that has become the hallmark of the
UPA government's foreign policy. It appeals to the people to oppose the
policy measures that will be taken to cement this one-sided
relationship.

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