CPIML Naxalbari press statement on the Indo-US Nuclear deal.

Sending a press statement as text and attachment on the Indo-US Nuclear deal. 2-9-2007 ------------ ---------------------------------------------- Press Statement Abrogate the Indo-US Nuclear Agreement The de facto recognition of India as a nuclear weapon power is the crux of the Indo-US nuclear agreement. Obviously, it comes with the price tag of locking India into a strategic alignment with the United States of America. All factions of the Indian ruling classes are quite happy with this arrangement. It was initiated by the BJP led NDA and is now being finalised by the Congress led UPA. They are totally unmindful of the dangers thrust upon the people of India by linking this country to the aggressive and occupationist interests of the US. They are equally unconcerned about an acceleration in the nuclear arms race in this region, which will inevitably be promoted by this agreement. The oppositional antics of the BJP, ultimately ending up with concerns over whether the nuclear weapons program will be curbed, revealed this. Meanwhile, the parliamentary Left tries to dupe people with their protests over possible influences on foreign policy, while maintaining scrupulous silence about the implicit recognition of the nuclear weapons program contained in the agreement. India's foreign policy has always been (and is) guided by its expansionist interests, subordinated to the push and pulls of imperialist power relations. To separate one from the other is sheer political opportunism. The main issue posed by this agreement is its blessings to Indian expansionism' s nuclear ambitions, now being tied up with US strategic interests. This has dangerous consequences, not only for the people of India but also for the whole of South Asia in particular, and Asia in general. This alone demands all out opposition from all progressive sections of society. Furthermore, the hyped up promise of nuclear energy can in no way reduce the gravity of the stockpiling of potential environmental disasters , the dependence caused by the heavy flow of foreign capital it calls for, or the consequent withering away of indigenous technological development. Hence we demand the immediate and complete abrogation of the Indo-US nuclear agreement and call upon all the people to unite around this just and patriotic cause. Krantipriya Spokesperson, Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) NAXALBARI September 2, 2007.