Buddhadeb slams Mamata for inviting Obama

Kolkata, Sep 1 (IANS) Lashing out at the US for instigating India against communist China, CPI-M politburo member Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee Saturday took pot shots at West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee for inviting US President Barack Obama to the state.

"Since independence, never before a US secretary of state has come to Writers' Building (state secretariat). We now see a US secretary of state is coming. Never before has a chief minister invited a US president to West Bengal. But now Obama has been invited," said Bhattacharjee at a rally.

During US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's visit to Kolkata in May, Banerjee invited Obama to the youth festival scheduled to be held in Kolkata in January 2013.

Bhattacharjee argued that US was trying to instigate India against China.

"America is trying to dictate terms to each and every nation. They are now planning to dictate terms to China. They are strategically surrounding China and in this strategic movement they want India as their partner," Bhattacharjee said.

"They are instigating India against China. They want to hold joint military and strategic exercise with India. What is the need to holding joint exercise? The need is to prepare them to fight China," Bhattacharjee said.

Bhattacharjee said America was eyeing Indian markets for its own vested economic interests.

"They are having economic problems. So now they want to enter Indian markets. They want to enter our retail, pension, banking and insurance sectors to serve their own vested economic interests," he said.

Bhattacharjee also vowed that the Indian communists would never allow India to be party to America's strategic and imperialistic goals.