At a time when the spotlight is on Sino-Indian relations, CPM general secretary Prakash Karat has blamed pro-US “lobbies” within India for “the recent efforts to create complications in India-China relations” while his colleague and CITU chief M K Pandhe has demanded work visas for Chinese workers in India, saying they are “technicians” — an euphemism for skilled workers — and not semi-skilled or unskilled hands.

Writing in the CPM mouthpiece People’s Democracy, Karat rejected reports of hostile manoeuvres by Beijing as “either baseless or highly exaggerated”.

“The rising economic power of the two Asian giants — China and India — is presented as a source of conflict between the two. In strategic terms, China is sought to be pitted against India. Those dominating the world economic order would like nothing better than a relationship of rivalry and conflict between China and India,” Karat wrote in an apparent reference to the US.

Claiming that there is “active lobbying” to buy arms from the US, Karat quoted a Washington Post report which claimed that retired US admirals and generals, who now work for defence firms, have been lobbying to secure military deals while top US commanders, who regularly visit India, unfailingly point to the military threat posed by China.

“The recent efforts to create complications in India-China relations must be seen in this context. Within India, the lobbies that want the strategic alliance with the United States to be cemented are precisely those who seek to thwart the potential of India-China cooperation,” Karat said.

... contd.