The US welcomes India's “greater global leadership” role in the world, American envoy Timothy Roemer said on Tuesday, a day after leaked diplomatic cables described India as amongst the “self-appointed frontrunners” for the United Nations Security Council membership.
On Monday, WikiLeaks released thousands of diplomatic cables, which included one signed by US secretary of state Hillary Clinton in 2009, directing its diplomats to gather personal information on UN officials.
In that, she described India, along with Brazil, Germany and Japan, as the “self-appointed frontrunners for permanent UNSC membership”.
In a statement released on Tuesday, Roemer said: “The United States welcomes a greater global leadership role for India and values its perspectives on how to meet common challenges, including countering terrorism, securing our maritime domains, and working together to promote democratic, political and economic development around the world.”
He said US President Barack Obama, during his recent visit to India, had described relations with India as one of the “defining partnership of the 21st century”. Roemer said that while Obama “supports responsible, accountable, and open government”, the WikiLeaks release runs counter to that goal.
“The US government is committed to maintaining the security of our diplomatic communications and is moving aggressively to hold accountable those responsible,” he said.