NEW DELHI: Terming the decision of the United Progressive Alliance Government to join the U.S.-sponsored Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan (TAP) pipeline project as "disturbing," the Communist Party of India (Marxist) on Friday demanded an explanation.

The decision was taken at a juncture when the U.S. openly declared its opposition to the Iran-Pakistan-India gas pipeline project, the party Polit Bureau said in a statement. The party said it is well known that the U.S. wants India to be part of the pipeline project emanating from Turkmenistan. "It is disturbing that the Manmohan Singh Government is giving priority to U.S. strategic interests and sidelining the Iran pipeline project which is more suited for our national interests and energy requirements," the statement said.

The suspicion that India was acting at the behest of the U.S. was clear from a recent newspaper report that quoted the Foreign Secretary as having written to the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas recommending the TAP project saying, "It would also be in tune with the latest U.S. strategic thinking for the region."

On the stock market crash, the CPI (M) said the fall should alert the Government and suggested three measures to check it. These include imposition of a long-term capital gains tax; revisiting the Double Taxation Avoidance Treaty (DTAT) with Mauritius and Singapore; and not go ahead with capital account convertibility.

Party Polit Bureau member Sitaram Yechury said at a briefing that while the fall in the market was also on account of international trends, there were other factors that needed to be addressed.

He said the Left parties have been demanding re-introduction of long-term capital gains tax and said no modern economy can do without it. For instance, in the U.S. the tax stood at 15 per cent.

Mr. Yechury said the argument of Finance Minister P. Chidambaram that it cannot be imposed on account of DTAT was flawed.

He said it means individuals/entities registered in Mauritius do not have to pay tax again in India if they did so there. However, Mauritius does not have a long-term capital gains tax and hence there is a need to take a re-look," he said.

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