“In the CMP adopted by the UPA, there was not a word about strategic alliance with America. If that was put in the CMP, the Left parties would not have supported the government,” CPM General Secretary Prakash Karat said while addressing a public meeting here.
Alleging that the government was deviating from the CMP and taking “step after step to get into strategic alliance with USA”, he said “this is not acceptable to Left parties.”
Without giving any indication on the Left’s strategy in the event of the government going ahead with operationalising the deal, Karat said “whatever takes place in future, we will not compromise on the independent foreign policy and national interests.”
Warning that America would be able to “blackmail India for 40 years” once the nuclear agreement was operationalised, he said it was part of US President George Bush’s agenda to pressure New Delhi to open its markets to American companies.
Karat for agitations
Karat asked the people to intensify agitation against the civil nuclear agreement as it would not benefit the people.
“After this agreement, it is not just the nuclear reactors that will come to India but companies like WalMart will enter the retail trade which will spell doom for our small traders,” he said. The CPM leader also charged the Congress-led ruling coalition with pursuing economic policies “tailored to suit US interests”.
“All these questions centre around the commitments made in the CMP three years ago. It clearly said India will follow an independent foreign policy.”
Karat accused the Manmohan Singh Government of bowing to American pressure to change labour laws, allow foreign companies in insurance, banking, agriculture and retail trade sectors.
The jathas (processions) taken out by Left parties from Kolkata and Chennai converged in this port city which is the headquarters of the Eastern Naval Command.
The joint naval exercise, Malabar 2007, between the US, Australia, Singapore and Japan besides India is being held in the Bay of Bengal, about 500 nautical miles off Visakhapatnam coast.
Massive rally
The city was swarmed by thousands of Left supporters who took out a massive rally that culminated in a public meeting at the Beach Road.
Karat claimed a strong opposition by Left parties had prevented direct entry of US companies in retail trade. “Whatever little protection that our labour laws have for the workers is sought to be neutralised by the US which is pressuring the government to change labour laws”, he said.

Left’s hidden agenda?
Kolkata, PTI: Indicating that the UPA government was going ahead with the Indo-US civil nuclear deal, Union Minister Kapil Sibal on Saturday wondered whether the Left, which was opposing it, had a ‘hidden agenda’.
“The Left’s opposition to the 123 agreement is for opposition’s sake. If they have a hidden agenda, the people of this country must know,” Sibal, the Union Science and Technology minister, told a press conference.
“If they are anti-America and they don’t want the deal with them on that account, that also should be made clear to the people of the country,” he said in a hard-hitting statement sitting in the Left’s backyard here in West Bengal.
Asked if the government was going ahead with the deal, “Nobody said we are stopping the deal. We will take into account the concerns of the left before operationalising it. There is no area to renegotiate the deal.”
“We don’t want Left to be left out. They should not confuse Bush with bijli (power),” he said.