New Delhi, Mar 13 (PTI) The 2008 nuclear deal with the US, which the Left had vehemently opposed, became a cementing factor for a deeper strategic alliance between the two countries and Donald Trump's presidency has now put India in a "bind", CPI(M) leader Prakash Karat said on Thursday, as he called for improving relations with China as a balancing factor. In an interview with PTI, Karat, the Interim Coordinator of the Communist Party of India (Marxist), said India does not need to be allies with China, but improving relations with the northern neighbour will help India's position in a multipolar world. Amid ongoing tariff dispute with the US, he said in 2008, when the Left parties withdrew support from the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government over the Indo-US Civil Nuclear deal, the move was seen only in context to the deal.
However, over the years, it led to strategic relations developing in a way that today the Trump administration is trying to "extract" deals from India. Karat, who served as the general secretary of the party from 2005-2015, was at the helm when the CPI(M)'s withdrawal of support from the UPA government led to the alliance government facing a strength test in Parliament, which it survived though with the backing of the Samajwadi Party. "People saw our opposition to the India-US nuclear deal only within the framework of that civil nuclear deal.
We saw it in a wider perspective because the real thing was America was saying we will give you this nuc.
