After a meeting with India's National Security Adviser M.K. Narayanan in August 2009, American Ambassador Timothy Roemer was driven to the conclusion that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was isolated within his own government in his “great belief” in talks and negotiations with Pakistan.
During the interaction, Mr. Narayanan, who had been described by the Embassy in a January 12, 2005 cable (25259: confidential) as a long-time Gandhi family loyalist “who is seen as part of the traditional ‘coterie' around Congress Party President Sonia Gandhi,” came through as a hardliner on Pakistan, never afraid to voice his differences with Prime Minister Singh.
In an August 11, 2009 cable (220281: confnoforn), sent a day after the meeting, Mr. Roemer noted that Mr. Narayanan, a former chief of the Intelligence Bureau who is now Governor of West Bengal, readily conceded that he had differences with Prime Minister Singh on Pakistan. The Prime Minister was a “great believer” in talks and negotiations with Islamabad, but Mr. Narayanan himself was “not a great believer in Pakistan.”
The cables have been accessed by The Hindu through WikiLeaks.
The NSA recounted to the Ambassador how after the Prime Minister spoke of India's “shared destiny” with Pakistan, he said: “you have a shared destiny; we don't.”
Mr. Roemer's take on this: “Narayanan made the comments above with some joviality and was totally complimentary of the PM throughout the discussion. He made a point of commending PM Singh's intellect, economic prowess among the G-20 leaders, and self-effacing manner as an ‘accidental politician' and former civil servant like him.”
Mr. Roemer observed that although Mr. Narayanan's tough stance on Pakistan was well known, his readiness to “distance himself from his boss [Manmohan Singh] in an initial courtesy call would suggest that PM Singh is more isolated than we thought within his own inner circle in his effort to ‘trust but verify' and pursue talks with Pakistan particularly in the wake of the hammering his government took from opposition for the July Sharm al-Sheikh statement with [Pakistan Prime Minister Yusuf Raza] Gilani.” (The BJP had criticised the statement for de-linking the dialogue process from action on terror.)
This, the Ambassador inferred, certainly confirms the “risks and volatility” the Prime Minister faces in opening up a new dialogue with Pakistan, and means increased Indian sensitivity to “perceived pressure from outsiders, particularly the USG [United States Government], to re-engage with Islamabad.”
The Ambassador's comment on the NSA's “rather blunt assertion” that foreign policy was being run out of the Prime Minister's Office was that it lent “credence to recent media chatter describing a marginalized Ministry of External Affairs under FM Krishna [Foreign Minister S.M. Krishna].”
When asked by the Ambassador which other, like-minded Indian government officials would be key partners in advancing the U.S.-India agenda, “Narayanan did not respond and instead noted that all matters related to nuclear and space issues, defense, and foreign policy should be directed to him.” The NSA reiterated that foreign policy was firmly in the hands of the PMO.
‘An old spook’
During the meeting, Mr. Narayanan frequently referred to his status as an “old spook” and described counter-terrorism and intelligence cooperation as the most “vibrant” areas of U.S.-India cooperation.While he could often pull rank on intelligence and security issues, on other topics he did not get the same degree of cooperation from other Ministries, the NSA told the Ambassador.
The NSA also conveyed to the Ambassador a desire to work closely to develop an ambitious agenda for Prime Minister Singh's November 2009 visit to Washington.
Interestingly, looking ahead to the appointment of Mr. Narayanan as the NSA, the Embassy noted in the 2005 cable: “Along with Principal Secretary TKA Nair, Narayanan constitutes what is now a Keralite ‘mafia’ in the PMO. In a bureaucratic culture dominated by North Indian Hindi speakers, this Keralite lock on the PM's inner bureaucratic circle represents something of an anomaly, which could in the long term create new faultlines around the Prime Minister.”
Keywords: The India Cables, cable25259, cable220281, WikiLeaks, Cablegate, PMO, Timothy Roemer, M.K. Narayanan, NSA
The cartoon tells a thousand words - in fact, no need to read the article at all! You can't depict the PM Singh's predicament in a better way. Kudos to the cartoonist.
Prime Minister Singh is right when he talk of engaging Pakistan. Forward looking people like Mr Singh are few in Pakistan, but their voices are being suppressed by the hardliners. Millions of Pakistanis want to engage India and favour talks with India on every issue, but armed forces and most media groups both in India and Pakistan for their blatent vested interests, do not want peace in this region.Peace between India and Pakistan is the only way forward for both nuclear powers.
Umm except for Mr. Brijesh Mishra, hasn't PMO been always southern elites? I must say these Keralite Mafia are smart. What I didn't like about Mr.Narayanan is the fact that he stepped on Mr.Krishna's toes. No matter where bureaucracy leads, the rights of an elected portfolio holder always should be upheld. Insulting Krishna was like insulting the people who elected the government.
India's future linked to Pakistan. Great revelation re Mr Naraynan,opposed to Indo-Pak friendship.These are perhaps short sighted BABOOS/CLERKS who knowingly ingnore the 'necessity' to have Indo-Pak friendship. This is an ecnomic necessity for India. It is clear that rail/gas lines are to come via Pak only and also Pak sits on ALL ANCIENT TRADEWAYS/ROADWAYS to west. Thus it is in India's interest more than Pak's to have close linkage.
Dear Sir,Mr.Ram's prelude was excellent.It is extraordinary that The Hindu had assembled a team of experts to study a data base of six million words on India cables that formed part of a data base of three hundred million words and began publishing the same on 15,March,reminding the government to beware the Ides of March.The publication of the India cables may be termed 'TheHinduLeaks' within the broader WikiLeaks.If one was left breathless reading a day's publication, what would have been the plight of the experts to sift through a mountain of words and distill the essence for the benefit of the readers.It is not right to refer to a group of people in the name of a state or language;but after reading the reference to a Keralite 'mafia'from a foreigner ,one has to come to the conclusion that a faultline had indeed been created around the Prime-minister and that led to the appointment of Shri.P.J.Thomas as the CVC.How prophetic had been the Embassy's words and how the Prime-minister had suffered as a result.Hats off to The Hindu.
Though it is interesting thanks to The Hindu, calling MKN as a Kerala mafia is something unbecoming of the person(US) of his stature. Narayanan is a highly accomplished civil servant and has done commendable job in his period.
It is important to have talks and negotiations with Pakistan for our benefit. It hard to believe that PM had opposition within his government.Narayanan has already face many controversies.
'Keralite mafia' in PMO is hardly surprising for Tamils. Narayanan was an efficient administrator and had been practical in dealing with Pakistan, who refused to give away any thing. After so many people killed in Mumbai no Indian would like any sort of talks with Pakistan till they punished the culprits. Regarding Kerala mafia whole India know about Tamil mafia in the form of regional parties in the centre, taking lion share of the countries' resources. Remember the fight between West Bengal MP's and Balu when the later moved a marine institute from West Bengal to Tamil Nadu?
India's betrayal of South Asia is evident. India chose to placate USA/Israel in international affairs. This has further isolated India in Asia. Now India stands confirmed as an enemy of China, Pakistan, Iran and Turkey. No wonder that Manmohan is not welcome in Iran and Turkey.
Two to three bureaucrats from Kerala do not make it a Kerala Mafia...although an interesting euphemism for the external affairs ministry. These bureaucrats from IFS/IAS share more of a bureaucratic culture (having spent most of their lives doing that) than culture related to language/state.
'Keralite mafia' in PMO is hardly surprising for Tamils if not Indians, though it is surprising that non-Indians were able to 'spot' the difference between bureaucrats (Hindi-speaking or otherwise).The 'leaks' are useful only for other countries, definitely not US. Reg India, of course, if there is a difference between the 'official' stand and 'leaked' stand, then some people can come to a judgement about the functioning of the bureaucracy. I dont think apart from some personal comments on heads of some countries, the 'wikileaks' would shed major light on 'drastic change' in ANY country for different heads of state. In India, I dont think there would have been a drastic change in 'approach' between Congress and BJP.
Thx for bringing indian cables series and exposing the information about what is happening in the closed doors.Very interesting to know that Narayanan has so strongly disagreed with his boss PM.
From the discussion between the American Ambassodor and Security Adviser Narayanan it is clear that it is not only crony capitalism which is the hallmark of Manmohan Singh's style of governance. Nurturing crony bureaucracy also seems to be a defining characteristic of his government. One thought political wisdom should be what informs decision making in a democracy. Apparently this vital human asset seems to be in short supply in New Delhi these days.
Very interesting. It is really commendable how The Hindu has decided to study, identify, sort and take-on the subject of REAL news through the Wikileaks disclosures, instead of the 'stenography' work of 'he said .... she said' without verification of the context and the background of relevant news, that most other major Indian newspapers pursue these days. As an Indian this news is more relevant to us than most others, that adorn the headlines in most newspapers nowadays. Thank you for being in the forefront of real news!
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