The Communist Party of India (Marxist) on Friday demanded that the United Progressive Alliance government tell the country why it was buying American equipment worth billions of dollars even when it was clear that the ‘AfPak' strategy remained central for Washington.
“The illusion perpetuated by the Manmohan Singh government that the United States considers India as its primary strategic ally in the region now stands exposed,” the party's Polit Bureau said referring to series of developments, including the just-concluded U.S.-Pakistan strategic talks.
The Polit Bureau, which met here on Thursday, said the latest development vis-à-vis the U.S.' AfPak policy exposed the blind spot in India's foreign policy and the counterproductive nature of the Manmohan Singh government's strategic alliance with the U.S.
It said that contrary to repeated assertions of the Indian government that the U.S. should stay the course in the fight against the Taliban, both the U.S. and President Hamid Karzai were moving for negotiations with sections of the Taliban to ensure an early exit for the U.S.-NATO forces.
At the same time, Pakistan, whose ISI had close links with the Taliban, had come into the picture for any future negotiated settlement and India was virtually left out in the cold.
Referring to the strengthening of the U.S.-Pakistan partnership, the Polit Bureau said Washington was stepping up its military assistance to Islamabad while at the same time it got the UPA buy large-scale weaponry worth billions of dollars from it.
“Even on the vital issue of terrorism, the United States is refusing to have any reciprocity as evident in the manner in which it has denied Indian authorities' access to David Headley so far.”
