COPE- 05

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The stage is all set for the joint Indo-US air exercise from Monday with the arrival of F-16 aircraft at Kalaikunda airbase in the West Midnapore district of West Bengal amid demonstrations by the ruling Communist Party of India (Marxist) activists against the event.

The Indian Air Force, undeterred by the demonstrations, remained busy with its preparations for holding joint exercise with the Americans, titled COPE- 05, from November seven.

Left unhappy with Indo-US military ties

The 250-strong American Air Force contingent, led by Colonel Cobat Nelson, with an F-16 fighter aircraft squadron has reached Kalaikunda from Miswa Air Base in Japan. The custom clearance of the US contingent has been completed,” an IAF spokesman said on Friday.

A US Air Force spokesman also confirmed in Kolkata that 12 F-16 aircraft had already reached the Kalaikunda airbase.

The CPI(M) has reiterated its decision to go ahead with the agitational programmes against the joint air exercise.

“What is happening is wrong and we will continue to protest,” West Bengal Chief Minister and politburo member Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee said.

DESPITE MOUNTING opposition from the Left, the Indo-US joint military exercises will go ahead on November 7 at Kalaikunda air base in West Bengal, thanks in no small measure to the Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee government’s promise to rein in the protest.
The resolve to go ahead with the exercises was reiterated on Friday morning after an unscheduled meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

The state government on Tuesday had assured the defence ministry and the US Embassy in Delhi that safety and free movement of US Air Force personnel both in Dum Dum and Kalaikunda would be ensured during the CPM demonstration on the day.

The same assurance was given to defence minister Pranab Mukherjee.

Announcing the government’s decision to go ahead with the military exercises in Delhi, Mukherjee said, “Everything has been sorted out”.

The CPM will, however, hold a massive protest in front of the Kalaikunda airbase on November 7 to protest the pres ence of US military forces on Indian soil. CPM activists held a sit-in on Friday at the Kolkata airport for the second day in succession as US planes began to land.

The CPM, which heads the ruling Left Front in West Bengal, had earlier warned that it would mobilise three million activists across the state to protest against the military exercises. That was later followed by a joint statement of the Left parties, comprising the CPM, CPI, RSP and Forward Bloc on Thursday, opposing the joint exercises.

CPM state secretary Anil Biswas said protestors would make no attempt to storm the Kalaikunda base or attempt to damage US aircraft. “Our agitation will be totally peaceful,” he said. The Left, he said, was in no mood, at least for now, to precipitate a crisis over the issue and once again stay away from the Left-UPA coordination committee meeting as they had done on the issue of disinvestment.

“The issue is as serious. But we must give the people time to understand the gravity and consequences of an Indo-US joint exercise on Indian soil. This demonstration is an awareness building exercise,” Biswas said.

Smooth landing 115 US Air Force personnel arrived at the Kolkata airport aboard two KC-10 carrier aircraft on Friday (above) The Indo-US exercises are the latest in a series of high profile military cooperation manoeuvres between the two countries Although the two air forces have held joint exercises in India in the past, this is the first time they are to be held in the Communist stronghold An F-16 aircraft, from a base in Japan, will take part in the exercises for the first time in India, along with about 250 US personnel