The Hindu : New Delhi News : Government catered to U.S. business interests: CPI (M)

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Thursday, Nov 11, 2010
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Government catered to U.S. business interests: CPI (M)

Special Correspondent

‘Agenda is to open up Indian agriculture and retail trade for profiteering of American firms'
‘A close defence relationship means large-scale purchase of U.S. military hardware'

NEW DELHI: The Left parties have charged that the outcome of U.S. President Barack Obama's visit to India was to further strengthen New Delhi's strategic alliance with Washington and prise open the Indian market for U.S. business and commercial interests and draw India into a closer security and military relationship.

The Communist Party of India (Marxist) said that what was being pushed in the name of promoting food security and raising agricultural productivity was the agenda to open up Indian agriculture and retail trade for profiteering of American corporations such as Wal-Mart and Monsanto. This would be detrimental to the interests of crores of small and marginal farmers and unorganised retailers. “The approach of the UPA government is also evident. Instead of emphasising that India's priority is for lifting the vast mass of [its] people out of poverty, hunger and disease, and in that context framing India's relations with the United States, the Congress-led government has catered to the U.S. business and strategic interests by accepting the self-congratulatory approach that Obama recognises India as a world power,” the party said.

The Indo-U.S. joint statement translated into a close defence and security relationship which, the party said, would mean large-scale purchase of U.S. military hardware; falling in line with the United States' “deceptive and self-serving” talk of human rights, democracy and nuclear non-proliferation. All these were a continuation and reiteration of the Manmohan Singh-George Bush joint statements of 2005 and 2006. It meant that while India agreed to comply with the sanctions on Iran, it should remain silent on Israel and its nuclear arsenal. “India is told to behave ‘responsibly' with regard to exporting democracy and human rights interventions by the United States, and in this interpretation there can be no mention of the human rights of the Palestinians in Gaza, or the illegal embargo on Cuba, or the slaughter of Iraqi civilians for the past seven years.”

The Polit Bureau noted that while India on the basis of its independent role and influence in world affairs could become a permanent member of the U.N. Security Council, endorsement by the U.S. should not amount to toeing Washington's strategic interests.

It said the UPA government should explain whether the lifting of restrictions on access to dual-use technology for certain Indian entities came with new conditions such as the purchase of arms and steps for tying closer the armed forces of the two countries through agreements on the anvil.

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