Karat defends China, vows to end US game

Kolkata/New Delhi: The UPA government just won’t get a break from its Left allies. CPI-M General Secretary Prakash Karat praised Prime Minister Manmohan Singh yesterday but on Thursday he was back to slamming his ‘pro-American tilt’.

''India is a prize for the US and not Pakistan because of its market. Developed India can be useful for counterbalancing China. This is a game the US is trying to play which has to be foiled'', Karat said at a CPI-M programme in Kolkata.

“We shall not rest in our fight till the strategic ties with the US is snapped out,” PTI quoted Karat as saying. “USA has also changed its tactics of making Pakistan its strategic ally as it has now realised that if it can get India as a strategic ally, the balance will be tilted in favour of imperialism and neo-colonialism.”

Karat said several countries were looking to India for the fight against imperialism but the government had disappointed them. ''When the Bush administration is threatening that the Third World war will be waged against Iran for its challenge against the US might, the Indian government remained silent and that is surprising'', he said.

India “is preferred as an ideal ally of the US. If it can get India as its ally, it can be a big game for the imperialists”. Karat said Indians would fight against imperialism “and cannot accept the design to convert us as a subordinate ally of the US”.

America is trying to make India its strategic ally in countering China, but "the most powerful socialist country is capable of challenging the might of the USA".

Karat didn’t speak about the Indo-US nuclear deal, but his colleague and CPI General Secretary said a consensus on the issues was possible. "I don't rule out the possibility of finding a consensus. It depends upon what steps the government takes. After all, it is not a one-issue or a one-party government but a coalition," Bardhan said in New Delhi.

"The party (CPI) is of the firm opinion that the deal is not in the national interest. The National Council held that India is being dragged into US global strategy. The US intention is to make India a strategic partner and its military ally," said Bardhan.