People's Democracy

Resist Unipolarity, Realise Multipolar World
CPI(M) At 3rd ICAPP

Sitaram Yechury meeting with Hu Jin Tao, president of the People’s Republic of China and 

general secretary of the Communist Party of China on September 3

Eighty-one political parties representing 35 countries participated in the Third International Conference of Asian Political Parties held in Beijing on September 3-5, 2004. Amongst those were president of the Philippines, prime minister of Thailand, prime minister of Cambodia and president of the National Assembly of East Timor who is also the president of FRETILIN.

A large number of parties from India, namely Indian National Congress, the BJP, the CPI(M), CPI, Nationalist Congress Party and the All India Forward Bloc, participated in the conference.

The CPI(M) was represented by Polit Bureau member Sitaram Yechury and central committee member and the CPI(M)’s deputy leader in Lok Sabha, Mohd Salim.

Detailed report on the deliberations of this conference will appear subsequently. The intervention of Sitaram Yechury is given below. 

AT the outset, on behalf of the Communist Party of India (Marxist), please accept our greetings and gratitude for being invited to this important conference, for the first time.

This conference, in our opinion, constitutes an extremely important initiative at the present conjuncture of the international situation. There is a need not only for cooperation and friendly relations between our countries and political parties but, importantly, for a unified approach and action on issues where there is a convergence of interests in our region. In this context the main themes chosen for discussion here are extremely relevant and important.

Before expressing opinion on these themes, a few words regarding my Party. The Communist Party of India (Marxist) is the largest Left party in India with a membership of over 800,000. The mass organisations led by us – trade unions; peasant organisations; students; youth; women etc – have a membership of over 40 million. These may sound impressive but remember that India is a country of over a billion people! Presently we have 44 members of parliament in the lower house, the House of People and 15 in the upper house, the House of States. The Left together has 61 members in the lower house. This number is presently crucial in sustaining the government of India. The Left is supporting from outside the present Indian National Congress led coalition government. The Indian government today is in office on the basis of this support of the Left, which in turn is based on a Common Minimum Programme adopted by the government and broadly endorsed by the Left.

As most of you know, there is a Left Front government led by the CPI(M) in the state of West Bengal for nearly three decades, winning six consecutive elections. There is another CPI(M) led Left Front government in the state of Tripura.

I now turn to the themes chosen for discussion at this conference. Regional security and multilateral cooperation in the Asian region is of crucial relevance and significance for the world today.

In the post-Cold War situation the natural tendency in the international situation is the movement towards multipolarity replacing bipolarity. This natural tendency is however sought to be subverted towards unipolarity by forces that seek hegemony. This is a trend that all of us must resist and permit the realisation of a multipolar world.

Given this reality, the cooperation amongst us in Asia is of vital importance in realising this objective. The security scenario – when security is considered as a multi-dimensional concept embracing the strategic-military, energy, economic and development aspects which impinge on national sovereignty – in Asia covering the vast region from West Asia, South Asia, former Soviet republics of Central Asia and South East Asia including Japan has undergone a major transformation in the post-Cold War world.

In this context the cooperation amongst countries in South Asia – SAARC –assumes importance. Indo-Pakistan relations are paramount. Both these countries have demonstrated their nuclear capabilities. The CPI(M) however is of the firm opinion that both the countries must desist from deploying nuclear weapons. This is the essential precondition to defuse tensions and work for good-neighbourly relations. The CPI(M) is firmly committed to carrying forward the process of improving Indo-Pak relations.

Further, the CPI(M) seeks better cooperation and considered unified action to tackle problems that currently engage countries in South Asia, be it Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Maldives or Nepal. Only a unified approach based on mutual respect and consideration of each other’s interests can achieve this.

The other important area – even in the framework of global considerations – is the improvement of relations between India and China. Despite conflicts and tensions, both these countries have together contributed to the lexicon of international relations the concept of five principles of cooperation in international relations; we in India call this the Panchsheel. These we believe today continue to constitute a firm basis for relations between neighbours and countries across the globe. The CPI(M) is committed to strengthen this basis and is working for a better and deeper levels of friendship and relations between India and China.

On a larger canvas, there is a need to work together to resolve the flash points of conflict in Asia. India, cutting across its entire political spectrum, in a unanimous resolution of the parliament, has asked for the vacation of the US occupation of Iraq and has refused to send its troops. India has called for an unambiguous UN control for supervising the democratic transition in Iraq while firmly opposing the US led war and aggression against Iraq. Similarly, India has sought the complete and unconditional vacation of Israel from Palestinian territories as the elementary foundation for peace in the region and granting of the long denied right of the Palestinians for their homeland.

There are issues on which all of us must work together, as we should on the vacation of foreign military bases in our region, to ensure that we as a region will work for the establishment of multipolarity in today’s world as opposed to the unipolarity that is sought to be imposed.

These security concerns are paramount to the peoples of our countries as their resolution is the only basis that shall release resources for our economic development. Huge resources are today being diverted away to meet these perceived security concerns from providing the basic requirements for our peoples, who are amongst the poorest and most deprived in the world. All of this requires of us to concentrate our common energies in working for a solution of these conflicts that continue to consume our energies and resources, and prevent us from working for the emancipation of the billions of people that constitute Asia today.

Finally, this requires a political will among all of us to together protect our interests in the globalised world. The new economic treaties like the WTO and bilateral agreements must recognise and respect the economic sovereignty of all our countries. We shall have to work together to ensure that these rights are recognised to begin with, respected and guaranteed. While we work for balanced sustainable development programmes in our own countries, based on our respective realities, we owe it to our own people that we mount a collective effort to retain our economic sovereignty. The necessary political initiatives for this must be undertaken by all of us.

In conclusion, I would like to express my confidence that in the final analysis we all are committed to improving the living conditions of the peoples in our respective countries. Needless to state, if we do not, then our own people will reject us as their representatives politically.

With the hope that each one of us, with firm commitment to our convictions, will advance the interests of our peoples in meeting the challenges of today’s world, I once again record the CPI(M)’s deepest sense of appreciation for this initiative.

While thanking the Chinese government, the CPC, our comrades and friends for providing such excellent conditions and facilities for our work, I thank all of you for your attention.

Long live the solidarity of the peoples of Asia!