Indo-US ties make Left leaders see red

NEW DELHI: Vehemently opposing India’s “burgeoning strategic alliance” with the US, the Left parties have decided to take out two protest marches to Vishakapatnam against the joint naval exercises in the Bay of Bengal between September 4 and 9.

Top Left leaders like Prakash Karat, CPI general secretary AB Bardhan, RSP leader Abani Roy and Forward Bloc general secretary Debabrata Biswas will lead the protest against the five-nation joint naval drills from Kolkata to Vizag and from Chennai to Vizag.

The protesters will converge at Vishakapatnam on September 9 where a rally will be held, Karat said. Alongside negotiations for the nuclear accord, steps have been taken for military collaboration, the leader said.

“The Access and Cross Servicing Agreement, otherwise known as the Logistics Support Agreement is being pushed ahead as provided for in the Defence Framework Agreement.

This would lead to regular port calls by US naval ships in Indian ports for fuelling, maintenance and repairs,” the Left leaders said. 

“The joint naval exercises have now been widened to include India in the trilateral security cooperation between US, Japan and Australia,” they added.