Days after the hullabaloo it raised over the visit of US warship USS Nimitz, the CPI(M) on Friday said the party is ?seriously concerned? about the proposed joint exercise of the Indian Navy with their counterparts in the US, Japan, Australia and Singapore. A statement of the party?s politburo said it will oppose the ?growing military tie-up? of the country with the United States.
?The joint naval exercise in the Bay of Bengal in September is a step towards India being drawn into the already existing trilateral military cooperation between the US, Japan and Australia,? the statement said. ?In the recent period, preparations have been going on for a quadrilateral framework for security cooperation involving India, United States, Japan and Australia,? the party politburo added.
Claiming that the exercise is part of the new framework for defence relations, signed by the UPA government in 2005, the statement blamed the UPA government for its move to ?join the ranks? of Australia, Japan and Singapore. ?Japan and Australia are close military allies of the United States. India is now moving to join their ranks,? the party said.