Continuing its fierce criticism of the UPA government's foreign policy on the grounds that it was in favour of the United States, the Communist Party of India (Marxist) vowed on Wednesday to “resolutely fight” this “strategic alliance.”
“The Manmohan Singh government has pursued a foreign policy which is influenced by its strategic ties with the U.S. Such an approach is detrimental to the country's interests… The CPI(M) will resolutely fight against the strategic alliance with the U.S., which has political, military and economic dimensions,” party general secretary Prakash Karat told the 20 Party Congress, which opened here.
Notwithstanding its official pronouncements, he said, the government had succumbed to the U.S. pressure, reducing oil imports from Iran and voting with the U.S. and its allies at the United Nations Security Council on Syria.
The government sought to exempt foreign nuclear equipment suppliers from liability and compensation payment in case of an accident. The domestic economic policies were influenced by the strategic alliance with the U.S., which wanted permission for multi-brand retail chain Walmart to open supermarkets in India.
As for other issues in the international arena, Mr. Karat said imperialism, spearheaded by the U.S., continued its aggressive measures to maintain its hegemony. A case in point was NATO's aggression on Libya and the present action against Syria. These interventions, he argued, were designed to hijack the popular uprising in the Arab countries. The party was in solidarity with the Palestinian people who were struggling against Israeli occupation, and for an independent State.
The CPI(M) also supported the people fighting the neo-liberal order, through general strikes in Greece, Portugal, Spain and other European countries, as also the ‘Occupy Wall Street,' after the livelihoods and living standards of workers came under attack.
