US Ambassador David Mulford came under fresh fire today with the CPM leading the Left demand for his recall, even taunting the UPA government that it lacked the “courage to confront” the US on the envoy’s “unacceptable” remarks. The BJP too asked the Government to take all political parties into confidence on Indo-US ties in view of Mulford’s statements linking the nuclear deal with Washington to Delhi’s stand on Tehran’s nuclear programme. CPM politburo member Sitaram Yechury told The Indian Express: “Mulford has been commenting on virtually every issue of importance and interfering in India’s internal matters. He has threatened us on what position India should take on the Iranian nuclear issue, and now he is advising us on allowing FDI in retail. The UPA government should take up the matter seriously and ask for Mulford’s recall.” A PTI report from Kolkata quoted CPM general secretary Prakash Karat as telling a seminar: “Our government has not been able to confront the US Ambassador effectively even after he threatened that nuclear co-operation will die if India does not vote against Iran.” Karat said when the US envoy in Venezuela had objected to the country’s opposition to the US “aggression” in Iraq, President Hugo Chavez had told the envoy that his was an elected government and would brook no interference. “I do not think our government has the courage to say this,” Karat said.
