Cable quotes Hillary as saying India is a 'self-appointed front runner' for UNSC

Another cable reveals that India was kept out of Afghan meet by Turkey

November 30, 2010 01:42 am | Updated November 28, 2021 09:32 pm IST - NEW DELHI:

On his recent visit to India, United States President Barack Obama hoped that the country would become a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC), but the WikiLeaks has quoted a secret cable in which his Secretary of State Hillary Clinton described India and its three partners (Brazil, Germany and Japan) as "self-appointed front runners".

Ms. Clinton also directed her diplomats to seek minute details about their Indian counterparts posted at the U.N. headquarters in New York.

Another cable that quotes a top Turkish diplomat states that India was deliberately kept out of the Turkey-sponsored meeting on Afghanistan earlier this year in order to cater to Pakistan's "sensitivities".

Of the estimated quarter million secret U.S. cables and documents released by WikiLeaks, some 3,000 are from the American Embassy here but none has been released so far. Several cables from other U.S. missions also mention India, but very few have been released by newspapers to whom WikiLeaks has apportioned the "Cablegate" tranches.

In a cable UNSC Reform - "positions, attitudes, and divisions among member states" - while terming the G-4 as self-appointed front runners, Ms. Clinton opted for the staid option of describing the alternate grouping by its name - the Uniting for Consensus group (especially Mexico, Italy, and Pakistan) that opposes additional permanent UNSC seats.

The revelation about India being deliberately kept out of the Afghan conference in Turkey was made by senior Turkish diplomat Rauf Engin Soysal to U.S. Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs William Burns. "He said Turkey had not invited India to the neighbours' summit in deference to Pakistani sensitivities," said the cable dated February 25. Turkey decided to exclude India despite Prime Minister Manmohan Singh requesting the Turkish President for assistance with Pakistan. At that time, India had vigorously protested its exclusion.

In the third cable mentioning India, a top U.S. official briefed the Israeli Intelligence chief in August 2007 on his country's efforts to reduce tensions between India and Pakistan. "Turning to India, Under Secretary Burns noted that U.S.-Indian economic cooperation is growing, and that the USG [the U.S. government] is working effectively to reduce tensions between India and Pakistan," said the State Department cable.

0 / 0
Sign in to unlock member-only benefits!
  • Access 10 free stories every month
  • Save stories to read later
  • Access to comment on every story
  • Sign-up/manage your newsletter subscriptions with a single click
  • Get notified by email for early access to discounts & offers on our products
Sign in

Comments

Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.

We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of The Hindu and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.