Halt Indo-US nuke deal: Karat

Khammam, Andhra Pradesh, Aug 21 (UNI) Putting the ball in Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's court for a ''favourable response'', CPI(M) General Secretary Prakash Karat today made it clear that the UPA Government should not proceed with the Indo-US nuclear deal.

Addressing a mammoth rally at Mudigonda, where seven activists were killed in police firing last month during the land stir, he said the deal not only related to nuclear field, but covered the entire gamut of external affairs, paving way for the ''imperialist'' US to dictate India's foreign policy.

Putting the Government on notice, Mr Karat said ''in the next few weeks, the Prime Minister and the Congress has to decide whether it will be with the US or Indian people.'' ''We have told the Government in clear terms there can be no strategic alliance with the imperialist US. The Left parties are awaiting a good response from the Government,'' he added.

Stoutly opposing the alleged growing influence of the imperialist US on India's foreign policy, Mr Karat charged the Manmohan Singh Government with giving a go-by to the non-alignment foreign policy evolved by Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru.

Recalling the circumstances under which the Left parties extended outside support to the Manmohan Singh Government to keep the ''communal forces'' at bay, the Marxist leader accused the UPA Government of pursuing ''suicidal'' economic policies at the dictates of the World Bank, International Monetary Fund and the US, leading to agrarian crisis and more suicides by farmers.

Coinciding with the proposed naval exercise in the Bay of Bengal, the Left parties would hold two Jathas, starting from Kolkata and Chennai on September one and converging in Visakhapatnam on September nine, he said.

UNI