Monday, July 4 2005 14:43 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Kolkata: The CPM (Communist Party of India Marxist) today (July 4, 2005) expressed concern over the Indo-US agreement on Defence cooperation saying that it violated the Common Minimum Programme (CMP) as also the parliamentary resolution taken during the Iraq war.

''We are extremely concerned about the provision in the Indo-US agreement signed during Defence Minister Pranab Mukherjee's visit that the two countries would take part in multilateral military action under US leadership without UN ratification,'' CPM politburo member Sitaram Yechury told newspersons in the West Bengal Assembly lobby in Kolkata.

''This violates both the CMP as also the parliamentary resolution taken during the Iraq War when it was unanimously decided that the country would endorse military initiatives only under UN supervision,'' Yechury said after filing his nomination as a candidate for the coming Rajya Sabha polls.

Yechury said that joint military action with the US was not only violative of the CMP but also against an independent foreign policy.

''The CPM will take up the issue with the UPA (United Progressive Alliance) Government. We have articulated our point of view already on the issue,'' he said.

The CPM leader said that his party wanted improved relations between India and all other nations but not at the 'dictates' of the US.