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CPI warning on defence pacts

Special Correspondent

"Do not get entangled in U.S.' aggressive defence strategy"

HYDERABAD: The Communist Party of India on Sunday said the Centre should tread cautiously while dealing with defence issues with the United States. The U.S. had an "aggressive defence strategy" that was designed at their will and "we should not get entangled in it," CPI general secretary A.B. Bardhan said.

Mr. Bardhan, who was here in connection with the party's State council meeting, told reporters that the CPI objected to the joint statement issued by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and U.S. president George Bush.

Dr. Singh, however, clarified that the commitments made were not "one-sided." "We are satisfied to that extent," he said.

Referring to the U.S.' branding of some nations as "rogue states" producing Weapons of Mass Destruction, he said the greatest amount of WMD was being stockpiled by the U.S. and the global war on terrorism launched by the U.S. fuelled the threat of terrorism. The war on terrorism in India, however, had a special background as terrorist camps continued to flourish in Pakistan and they had to be dismantled.

He said the CPI welcomed FDIs that were "according to our needs" where the credit would be channelled to priority sectors such as agriculture, small scale industry and self-employment sectors. The Left, however, opposed FDI in sensitive areas that were vital to security as well as in the financial sector that determined economic policies. The Left parties were also against the move to permit FDI in retail trade, which had the widest network from cities to remote villages.

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