Against the Malabar Exercises

Press Statement

The Polit Bureau of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) has issued the following statement:

Against the Malabar Exercises

The next round of the Indo-US joint military exercises – the Malabar naval exercises – is going to be held in October, 2008. The Polit Bureau of the CPI(M) strongly opposes this joint exercise which will see American nuclear weapon ships joining the exercises on the West Coast. The USS Ronald Reagan, which leads the US naval contingent, is a nuclear weapon-equipped aircraft carrier.

The Manmohan Singh government should not allow any nuclear-equipped US ships into our ports or territorial waters. Earlier, the Congress-led government had allowed the USS Nimitz, which is also a nuclear weapon ship, to dock at Chennai. Such military exercises are part of the growing military collaboration with the US which is resorting to aggressive military operations in Afghanistan, Iraq and now targeting Iran.

Since it signed the Defence Framework Agreement with the United States, the Manmohan Singh government is working to integrate India’s armed forces with that of the United States.

The CPI(M), alongwith the Left parties and other democratic forces, will organise big protests against the Malabar exercises when it is held in October.