Yechury denies writing to Obama

CPI-M leader Sitaram Yechury Wednesday denied writing to US President Barrack Obama not to give a visa to Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi.

"I deny having signed any such letter," Yechury said in a statement.

"It is neither in my character nor in the principles of the Communist Party of India-Marxist to petition any sovereign country on matters that fall strictly within the sovereign domain of that country.

"It is this very principle that leads us to strongly oppose and denounce any external interference into India's internal affairs undermining its sovereignty," he said.

"Much of this controversy is taking place in cyberspace.

"The one circulating in cyberspace, now many months after it was allegedly signed, is typed on the letterhead of a MP which carries the insignia of Ashoka Chakra. The heading under which some signatures are appended says, 'Names and Signatures of Indian MPs'."

This, he was, was strange. "Which other country's MPs would sign on the letterhead of Indian parliament? "This, itself, suggests some efforts at cut and paste."