WikiLeaks exposes US interference in India: CPI-M

NEW DELHI - The US embassy cables from here leaked by WikiLeaks provide “a revealing picture of Indo-US relations and the extent of US interference in India’s domestic political affairs”, the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) said Saturday.

“The manner in which the US embassy intervened to influence Indian political parties and opinion makers on the nuclear deal, the pressures on foreign policy matters such as the attitude towards Iran, are all laid out,” it said in a statement.

It recalled that Indian officials were “loathe to admit publicly that India and the US have begun coordinating foreign policies”.

“The cables set out how relations have improved to make ‘Delhi much more amenable to cooperating’. These show the actual state of India-US relations after the signing of the Indo-US nuclear deal,” the CPI-M said.

The statement quoted one cable as saying that the US had a “true partner in the current Indian government led by Manmohan Singh”.

“As the WikiLeaks cables from around the world have shown, the US pursues single-mindedly its imperialist interests. The unfortunate part is the complicity of the Manmohan Singh government in furthering some of these interests,” the CPI-M said.

The statement came a day after WikiLeaks quoted one embassy cable as describing CPI-M general secretary Prakash Karat as an “extortionist” for his bitter opposition to the India-US civil nuclear deal.