CPM sees red over political reception accorded to CIA chief

A staunch opponent of New Delhis growing strategic ties with Washington,the CPI(M) on Friday said the CIA chiefs meeting with Home Minister P Chidambaram only showed that India was fast becoming like Pakistan vis-à-vis the US and signalled the new status of the American intelligence agency in the country.

The Home Ministers meeting with CIA chief Leon Panetta and the reception accorded to him at the political level is a pointer of how things have changed under the UPA Government, said the CPI(M) Politburo. India is fast becoming like Pakistan where the CIA and the FBI chiefs meet with the Interior Minister and the Prime Minister, the Politburo said,noting that the meeting marks a new stage in Indo-US collaboration.

Apart from meeting his intelligence counterparts,the CIA Chief has been received at the political level,signalling the new status of the CIA in India, it said.

Claiming that the CIA was notorious for its interventions in the political affairs of various countries, the party said the role being played by American security and military agencies in India and the manner in which the Congress-led government is promoting such ties should be a matter of serious concern.