US secretary of state Hillary Clinton had described India as a “self-appointed front-runner” for a permanent seat on the United Nations Security Council (UNSC), according to classified documents released by website WikiLeaks on Monday. About a quarter-million cables, many of them classified, regarding documents on US foreign policy have been leaked that document correspondence between various US embassies and consulates.
Ms Clinton, according to a “secret” cable issued by her on July 31, 2009, had also directed US envoys to seek minute details about Indian diplomats stationed at the United Nations headquarters.
Earlier this month, US President Barack Obama had stated in his address to the Indian Parliament that in the years ahead he looks forward to a “reformed UN Security Council that includes India as a permanent member”.
The leaked cables also revealed how India was deliberately kept out of the Turkey-sponsored meeting on Afghanistan earlier this year to address the “sensitivities” of Pakistan, confirming earlier news reports in this regard.
When asked about the leaks, Union minister of state for external affairs Preneet Kaur said it is a “very sensitive” issue and the government would like to “wait and work this out”.
“This is a very sensitive issue. We have good bilateral relations (with the US) and they had already warned us... So, I think it is not the right time to comment on it and we want to continue having a good relationship with the US. So, I think let us wait and work this out,” Ms Kaur said, adding that “it is an internal matter for each country and their diplomats... What they want to get and how they deal with it.”
According to the documents, US diplomats were asked to ascertain deliberations regarding UNSC expansion among key groups of countries like “self-appointed front-runners” for permanent UNSC seats India, Brazil, Germany and Japan (G-4).
Directions were also reportedly given to US diplomats to collect information on key issues like reform of the UN Security Council and the Indo-US civilian nuclear deal and pass it on to the intelligence agencies, including information on foreign associates’ credit cards and frequent-flier numbers that could be used to track a person’s movements.
According to the leaked cable, information was also sought about members’ plans for plenary meetings of the Nuclear Suppliers Group, views on the US-India civil nuclear cooperation initiative, and members’ views on the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) as well as prospects for country ratifications.
Among the secret US documents released by WikiLeaks, a total of 3,038 classified cables are from the American embassy in New Delhi, the details of which were not immediately available, mainly because of inaccessibility to the website that was experiencing heavy traffic. A breakdown indicates that as many as 2,278 cables are from the US mission in Kathmandu, 3,325 from Colombo and 2,220 from Islamabad. These cables are often candid and some times personal assessments of day to day events, functioning and meetings of US diplomats.
Reflecting Islamabad’s insistence at every international fora that New Delhi be kept out of any meeting on Afghanistan, a top Turkish diplomat, Rauf Engin Soysal, who then was Turkey’s deputy undersecretary for bilateral political affairs responsible for the Middle East, South Asia and Africa, told US undersecretary of state for political affairs William Burns at a meeting that Turkey had not invited India to the Afghan neighbours summit in deference to Pakistani sensitivities. “He (Soysal) said Turkey had not invited India to the neighbours summit in deference to Pakistani sensitivities; however, he claimed, Pakistan understands attempting to exclude India from the nascent South Asian regional structures would be a mistake,” says the confidential US state department cable dated February 25, 2010.
“He (Soysal) reported Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had requested (Turkish) President Gul’s assistance with Pakistan during the latter’s visit to New Delhi the previous week. Acting on that request, Gul had phoned Pakistani President Zardari who was sceptical of Indian intentions.”
Ahead of the leak of the documents, the US state department had reached out to India warning it about the impending release. “We have reached out to India to warn them about a possible release of documents,” state department spokesman P.J. Crowley had said. The US has termed the leak as illegal and said that this would affect its relationship with its friends and allies.
About 11,000 of these cables are classified “secret”, 9,000 are labelled “noforn”, shorthand for material considered too delicate to be shared with any foreign government, and 4,000 are designated both secret and noforn.