CPI (M) General Secretary and Rajya Sabha member Sitaram Yechury has sent a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi protesting the reported finalisation of the ‘Major Defence Partner’ designation to India by the US.

Quoting a joint statement by the two countries issued by the Centre on December 8, Yechury said the designation brings India to a level at par with that of the United States’ closest allies and partners. “This is a significant departure from India’s long-standing policy on defence relations and it has been done without taking the Parliament into confidence,” he said.

He demanded the PM to place in Parliament the texts of both the finalisation and the Logistics Exchange Memorandum of Agreement (LEMOA) signed between the US and Indian defence ministries earlier this year, during the ongoing winter session.

“While the US government has placed the details of ‘Major Defence Partner’ designation for approval of the US Senate as part of FY 2017 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), your government has not even made a statement in Parliament about such a significant deal. The country can see the US side of the deal by reading the 2017 NDAA, but remains ignorant of the Indian commitment as a ‘Major Defence Partner’ of the US,” Yechury said in the letter.

He said significant concessions were made to the US by the Centre and it will make Indian defence forces open to American scrutiny and Indian defence production under the control of the US.

“Serious apprehensions arise about your government compromising India’s sovereignty and strategic autonomy,” he said, and added that the Centre has now committed to become a junior ally of the US. “This represents the final nail in the coffin of India’s independent foreign policy,” the letter said.

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