The Hindu : National : India isolated in neighbourhood, says D. Raja

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Monday, Feb 09, 2009
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India isolated in neighbourhood, says D. Raja

Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI: The Communist Party of India (CPI) on Sunday charged that proximity to the United States had led to India’s isolation in the neighbourhood and this was reflected in the frustration of the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) leadership in putting its point across.

CPI secretary D. Raja said both Pakistan and Sri Lanka did not seem to respond to India’s call on vital issues. “The country stood humiliated and that was mostly on account of its closeness to the U.S.,” he said. He said Islamabad’s reaction and Colombo’s response to New Delhi’s demand for action against the perpetrators of the Mumbai attacks and on the Tamil issue respectively underscored India’s isolation.

‘Compromise on policy’

Mr. Raja regretted that the “indifferent attitude” of the neighbours was mostly because it had compromised on its sovereign foreign policy and was harming the country’s cause.

This isolation was telling on the UPA leadership and its frustration was reflected in its statements. “The fact that External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee, National Security Adviser M.K. Narayanan and Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram repeatedly hammered on Pakistan’s failure to respond to their inputs on the Mumbai attack underscores their frustration,” Mr. Raja said.

He accused the UPA government of providing military aid to Sri Lanka and wondered why the Congress never cared to react to such accusations. “It should react to such allegations and make it clear that the country was not providing any military help to Colombo.”

Mr. Raja said that it was the moral responsibility of India to ensure the safety of the Tamil civilians caught in the cross-fire between the Sri Lankan forces and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam.

He hoped that Delhi would urge the Mahinda Rajapaksa government to resume peace talks and politically solve the ethnic conflict.

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