Follow script, Comrades tell Menon

New Delhi: In an unusual gesture, new Foreign Secretary Shiv Shankar Menon on Saturday went to CPI-M headquarters in New Delhi and held discussions with senior party leader Sitaram Yechury on the ‘entire gamut’ of Indian's foreign policy.

During the 45-minute meeting, the CPI-M leader made it clear that Left parties were against any "deviation" from the country's independent foreign policy as assured in the UPA's Common Minimum Programme.

Several vital issues including the Indo-US civil nuclear deal, India's relations with neighbours particularly Pakistan and New Delhi's role in the Non-Aligned movement came up for discussion.

"We (Left and government) have had differences of opinion on several issues. So we deliberated on them but there was no agenda as such," Yechury said after the meeting. Menon, on the other hand, said it was "just a courtesy call."

"We have reiterated our position that the government should adhere to the Common Minimum Programme which promises that India will follow an independent foreign policy. We will not accept any deviation," he added.

The meeting comes at a time when the Left parties feel that the US was acting against India's interests despite the Manmohan Singh government's attempts to get "close" to the Bush administration.

They said Shashi Tharoor's UN candidature, the dilly – dallying over the nuclear deal and Washington's stance vis-à-vis Pakistan's support to terrorist activities in India were all indicators of the US position.

Asked about the nuclear deal, Yechury said the Left was of the view that there should not be any deviation from the 12 assurances that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh gave on the floor of the House.

"Since they were made in Parliament, it is the whole nation's view. Now it is up to the US government to honour their promises. Any changes in that is certainly not acceptable for us," he added.

On the much talked about Indo-Pak joint mechanism to combat terror, the CPI-M leader said he felt that "this was the time to test Pakistan's sincerity" with regard to its promises to act against terrorism.