(Weekly Organ of the Communist Party of India
(Marxist)
Vol. XXXVI
No.
11
March
11, 2012
On US Special Forces in India
The Polit
Bureau of the Communist
Party of India
(Marxist) has issued the following statement on March 3: THE Commander
of the US Pacific Command, Admiral Robert Willard had stated at a
Congressional
hearing that American Special forces assist teams are stationed in India along with Nepal,
Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and the Maldives. Both
the ministry of external affairs and the defence ministry have denied
that any
such force existed in India.
This denial only raises further questions. The
statement made by the US Pacific Commander is categorical. He states: “We
have currently special forces assist teams - Pacific assist teams is
the term -
laid down in Nepal,
Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Maldives,
as well as India”.
India falls within
the
purview of the Pacific Command within the US military command.
The head
of the Pacific Command has made an authoritative statement before a US
Congressional committee. There
is no clarification from the US
side that this statement is incorrect. The
UPA government has not informed the country about the other
arrangements which
it has entered into with the US.
For instance in the same testimony Admiral Willard has said: “We
are working very closely with India
with regard to their counter-terrorism capabilities and in particular
on the
maritime domain but also government to government, not necessarily DOD
(department of defence) but other agencies assisting them in terms of
their
internal counter-terror and counterinsurgency challenges”. The government
should come clean on the whole range of both the overt and covert
military and
security relations which exist with the United States.
People's Democracy