The Hindu : Front Page : Karat opposes strategic ties with U.S.

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Monday, Nov 23, 2009
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Karat opposes strategic ties with U.S.

Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI: The Communist Party of India (Marxist) on Sunday warned the United Progressive Alliance government against allying with the U.S.-led NATO forces in Afghanistan and promised to launch joint struggles with its counterparts in the region against increasing American intervention in South Asia.

As Prime Minister Manmohan Singh reached Washington to meet President Barack Obama, CPI(M) general secretary Prakash Karat reinforced the opposition of the Communist and Left parties in the country and the world to imperialist forces.

“We have to continue our struggle against capitalism, put an end to it and establish socialism as the real alternative. At the same time, we also oppose the India-U.S. strategic ties — economic and military,” Mr. Karat said at a public rally at the end of the 11th International Meet of Communist and Workers Parties here.

“Pressure will increase”

Mr. Karat said the U.S. had already declared that it wanted India to change the foreign direct investment limit in the fields of insurance and defence production. The pressure would increase on India to do so, and as decided in this meeting, the Left parties would fight against the imperialist designs.

He said Washington wanted New Delhi to be a strategic partner in its grand plans to establish hegemony in the world. “We have to work to break the strategic ties and as Communists, we have always raised our voice against imperialism anywhere in the world.”

Referring to South Asia, he said, the U.S., with over 1 lakh NATO forces, was firmly entrenched in Afghanistan and now attacking Pakistan. “Communist parties in Bangladesh, Pakistan, Nepal and Sri Lanka, representatives of whom are here, together we will fight against imperialist forces in the region.” He said if Vietnam was a graveyard for the Americans earlier, Mr. Obama would soon realise that his country would meet the same fate in Afghanistan.

Mr. Karat also demanded that the Manmohan Singh government not buy arms from Israel and stop indirectly funding Tel Aviv to launch military offensive against the people of Palestine, with whom India had always expressed solidarity.

“Government dormant”

CPI general secretary A.B. Bardhan charged the UPA government with being dormant and hoping that the global economic crisis would blow away.

The rally, he said, also witnessed the bonds between the Communist representatives of Israel and Palestine, both of whom jointly denounced occupation and wanted it to end, as also the warm embrace between representatives of Cuba and the U.S., with both expressing the view that while they were not against each other’s people, they stood united against imperialism.

Mr. Bardhan mocked at those who raised questions on the relevance of Communism and said the present global crisis showed that the capitalist solution resulted in exploitation and attacks on working class.

RSP general secretary T.J. Chandrachoodan described the meeting as “epoch-making” and said that in India, besides fighting imperialist forces, the Left parties had to counter fundamental elements.

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