Left parties criticize India's vote on Iran nuclear issue

India's left parties on Sunday accused the Indian government's vote on Iran nuclear issue as "the regrettable stance of succumbing to U.S. pressure."

The stand taken by India at Saturday's International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) meeting is not in conformity with the pursuit of an independent foreign policy and the maintenance of good relations with Iran which is in India's national interests, the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) said in a statement issued here Sunday.

India voted in favor of a resolution to report the Iran nuclear issue to the United Nations Security Council at the IAEA meeting on Saturday.

Criticizing the government's stance, the left parties demanded a full debate in the Parliament ahead of the next meeting of the IAEA, scheduled to be held in March.

The parties also threatened to boycott an upcoming coordination meeting with the ruling coalition.

CPI-M general secretary Prakash Karat called Ahmed Patel, leader of the Congress Party that leads the ruling coalition, Sunday to convey the boycott decision, according to Indo-Asian News Service.

The left parties, which are part of the ruling coalition but do not participate in the cabinet, had planned to hold the coordination meeting with the United Progressive Alliance led by the Congress Party on Wednesday.

It was the second time in the past 20 months since the government took power that the left will stay away from the coordination meeting. Last time the left had boycotted the meeting to protest the government's move to sell its stake in state-owned manufacturer Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited.

Source: Xinhua