The Hindu : National : Stir planned against framework pact

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Jul 05, 2005

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National

Stir planned against framework pact

Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI: The Left parties have decided to hold protest meetings and mass rallies across the country against the decision of the Manmohan Singh Government to sign the framework agreement on defence relationship with the United States.

The Left parties have already stated that an agreement of the kind signed by Defence Minister Pranab Mukherjee during his recent visit to the U.S., was not envisaged in the Common Minimum Programme and that the United Progressive Alliance Government had not seen whether it was in consonance with the commitment to pursue an independent foreign policy and promoting multi-polarity in international relations.

The Left parties would hold protest demonstrations on July 8 in Delhi and the next day elsewhere. It comes close on the heels of their opposition to the UPA Government's decision to offload 10 per cent equity in public sector Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited that led to their suspending participation in the UPA-Left Coordination Committee.

On Sunday, Communist Party of India (Marxist) general secretary Prakash Karat met his CPI counterpart A.B. Bardhan and briefed him on the meeting he and CPI national secretary D. Raja had with the UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi on the BHEL issue. The two leaders also discussed the India-U.S. agreement and decided to undertake protest rallies.

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