Place agreements in Parliament, Left tells government

New Delhi, Mar 6 (UNI) Terming the new Indo-US partnership as an ''erosion'' of India's strategic autonomy, the Left parties today said the government's approach goes against the National Common Minimum Programme of the UPA.

The overall direction of the joint statement issued by US President George W Bush and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was ''a further step away'' from an independent foreign policy and an ''erosion'' of India's strategic economy, said the Communist Party of India (Marxist).

All the agreements between the two countries should be placed before Parliament, said the CPI.

While the main attention has been focussed on the nuclear cooperation agreement, it will be wrong to see this in isolation from the overall architecture of the emerging strategic alliance, the CPI (M) central committee said.

The joint statement, it said, welcomes the report of the Indo-US CEO Forum and US-India Trade Policy Forum which contain the blueprint for opening up of sectors of the economy including defence for American capital and its corporations.

''Acceptance of this blueprint would entail loss of economic sovereignty and adverse consequences for domestic industry and agriculture,'' the CPI (M) said.

The CPI said the signing of the Indo-US Military Framework and the Bush-Manmohan joint statement would ultimately lead India to be part of the US strategies.

India should continue its friendly relations with other countries on the basis of its independent foreign policy based on a multipolar world as laid down in the NCMP, the CPI central secretariat said.

The UPA government will have to take the people into confidence and all the agreements must be placed before Parliament, it said.

UNI FZ MSJ HT2010