THE Communist Party of India (Marxist) has attacked Hindu chauvinist Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s joint “partnership statement” with US President Barack Obama.

In a statement on Thursday, the CPI(M) said the declaration showed that “India has abandoned its established independent foreign policy and has firmly tied itself to the apron strings of US global strategic designs.”

Mr Modi addressed the US Congress on Wednesday, saying Washington was an “indispensable partner” of New Delhi and that India’s 1.25 billion population made it an “ideal partner” for US business.

“A strong India-US partnership can anchor peace, prosperity and stability from Asia to Africa and from the Indian Ocean to the Pacific,” he claimed.

Mr Modi said the US president had agreed that making the subcontinent’s first nuclear power a permanent UN security council member “has to be an intrinsic part of this century’s new reality.”

The 50-paragraph declaration covers a range of issues, from the Paris declaration on climate change to defending US interests on intellectual property rights — a major issue in India, where expensive HIV drugs are beyond most patients’ means.

The document also deals with civilian nuclear co-operation, while 10 paragraphs are devoted to defence agreements including the Logistic Exchange Memorandum of Agreement (Lemoa).

The CPI(M) argued that Lemoa gives US aircraft access to Indian refuelling facilities “on its adventures of military intervention” in the Middle East and Afghanistan, home to many Indian expatriates.

“This abandons both our independent foreign policy and our bilateral interests with the friendly countries in west Asia and the Gulf,” the party said.