CPI-M flays India's strategic alliance with US

The Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) on Friday attacked the government's strategic alliance with the US over the latter's decision to go for negotiations with the Taliban in Afghanistan at the cost of New Delhi's interests.

The Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) on Friday attacked the government's strategic alliance with the US over the latter's decision to go for negotiations with the Taliban in Afghanistan at the cost of New Delhi's interests.

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"(This) has exposed the blind spot in India's foreign policy and the counter-productive nature of the Manmohan Singh government's strategic alliance with the US," the party said in a statement after a politburo meeting in New Delhi.

"Contrary to the repeated assertions of the Indian government that the US should stay the course in the fight against the Taliban, both the US and President Hamid Karzai are moving for negotiations with sections of the Taliban to ensure an early exit for the US-Nato forces.

"Pakistan, whose (intelligence agency) ISI has close links with the Taliban, has come into the picture for any future negotiated settlement. India has been virtually left out in the cold," it said.

"The US-Pakistan partnership is being strengthened. A high-level US-Pakistan strategic talks has just concluded in Washington. The US is stepping up military assistance to Pakistan while it has got the UPA (United Progressive Alliance) government to buy large-scale weaponry worth billions of dollars from it.

"Even on the vital issue of terrorism, the US is refusing to have any reciprocity as evident in the manner in which it has denied Indian authorities access to (Mumbai terror suspect) David Headley. The illusion perpetuated by the government that the US considers India as its primary strategic ally in the region now stands exposed."

The CPI-M asked the government to explain "why it is embarking on buying billions of dollars of US equipment and getting further tied to the US when it is amply clear that the Afpak strategy is central for the US in this region".