Wikileaks Diplomatic Cable Dump - News and Discussion

abhishek_sharma · Post by **abhishek_sharma** » 15 Jan 2011 10:45

US embassy cables: 'Nepal could become another Burma', US warned

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/us-emba ... ents/47745

krishnan · Post by **krishnan** » 17 Jan 2011 19:05

http://www.rediff.com/business/slide-sh ... 110117.htm

A former Swiss banker on Monday handed over documents of 2,000 high net worth people from the United States, Britain and Asia to WikiLeaks that he claims would expose attempts by these business leaders and lawmakers to evade tax payments.

It is not known if there are any Indians in this list of high net worth people whose secret documents have been given to WikiLeaks.

rajsunder · Post by **rajsunder** » 17 Jan 2011 20:08

krishnan wrote:http://www.rediff.com/business/slide-sh ... 110117.htm
A former Swiss banker on Monday handed over documents of 2,000 high net worth people from the United States, Britain and Asia to WikiLeaks that he claims would expose attempts by these business leaders and lawmakers to evade tax payments.

It is not known if there are any Indians in this list of high net worth people whose secret documents have been given to WikiLeaks.

BTW is this the same list of people whose identities were revealed by the guy who was paid to by German govt?? or is it another list??
BTW what happened to the list that was given by German govt to INDIAN govt??

Muppalla · Post by **Muppalla** » 18 Jan 2011 01:49

The jokers will starting leaking again. I say jokers because wikileaks folks are having zero honesty and a big zero credibility. WTF it will take to just release the damn things. They have so far leakes about 250 or 500 docs out of a 250,000.

And now that they started this new joke of the swiss bank account holders names. They say now they will release in two weeks. Probably starting with daily one name. The first person's name may be Late Robert Clive or may be even Napolean. Meanwhile all the news channels are going orgasmic ga ga. Abhishek Singvi blames LKA for not doing anything during his 4 year rule. For these INC jokers, everything related to last 60 years of India starts in 1999 and stops in 2004.

The leak saga continues.... Atleast BRF is mature and we did not complete a 100 page thread and still running at 30th page ....

Airavat · Post by **Airavat** » 18 Jan 2011 06:41

rajsunder wrote:BTW is this the same list of people whose identities were revealed by the guy who was paid to by German govt?? or is it another list??
BTW what happened to the list that was given by German govt to INDIAN govt??

Different list. That one was for the bank in Liechtenstein. The Supreme Court has asked the GOI to reveal the names of the 50 Indians on that older list. According to Times Now the GOI is covering up the issue by asking the listed to simply pay tax on their stashed monies, and is refusing to release the names.

Meanwhile the names of Indians in the new list, if any, will be revealed by Wikileaks in a few days, sending shivers down the spines of the concerned individuals and their protectors in the GOI. Watch Mani Shankar Aiyar make an ass of himself trying to fudge the issue and blame it all on "immoral" Swiss banking system:

TIMES NOW DEBATE ON THE SWISS BANK LIST-I
TIMES NOW DEBATE ON THE SWISS BANK LIST-II

chaanakya · Post by **chaanakya** » 18 Jan 2011 12:09

Airavat wrote: Different list. That one was for the bank in Liechtenstein. The Supreme Court has asked the GOI to reveal the names of the 50 Indians on that older list. According to Times Now the GOI is covering up the issue by asking the listed to simply pay tax on their stashed monies, and is refusing to release the names.

Meanwhile the names of Indians in the new list, if any, will be revealed by Wikileaks in a few days, sending shivers down the spines of the concerned individuals and their protectors in the GOI. Watch Mani Shankar Aiyar make an ass of himself trying to fudge the issue and blame it all on "immoral" Swiss banking system:

Is there any new scheme notified by GOI to facilitate payment of simple tax on stashed monies? Are they ( listed ones) not violating FERA(older cousin ) and FEMA? And if they pay their tax on such undeclared income, whose source is know secret,do the monies become legal if acquired through illegal means?

Vikas · Post by **Vikas** » 18 Jan 2011 16:16

^^ So now CIA can put anyone's name with any fake information in some secret document and hand it over to Wikileaks team.
What if the bank list contains names of leaders like ABV, LKA etc. instead of you know who? The corruption/scam discussion would turn away
towards different direction with "those who must not be named" going scot free.
I seriously doubt this Wikileaks biz model.

Soon Page-3 people across the world would be asking to put their name in wikileaks and make them famous.

Ravi Karumanchiri · Post by **Ravi Karumanchiri** » 25 Jan 2011 06:32

X-POSTED: US and PRC relationship & India
X-POSTED: Managing Chinese Threat

EXCERPTS from "Eastern promises, western fears"
Siddharth Varadarajan, The Hindu, January 25, 2011

http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/lead/ar ... epage=true

...

Behind the heavy typeface that the release of confidential American diplomatic cables by WikiLeaks has generated lie smaller stories which sometimes tell us more about the way in which our world is changing than the headlines themselves.

The U.S. ambassador in Paris met Michel Rocard, a former Prime Minister of France, in October 2005 for one of those sweeping, freewheeling chats that Gallic statesmen evidently specialise in. The bulk of the conversation deals with the French political scene but at the end, M. Rocard shares his concerns about the place of France and the United States in the new world order and proposes a joint Euro-American think-tank to prepare for the future. “Speaking of the growth of India and China, along with all the other challenges confronting both of us,” the leaked cable quotes the senior French politician as saying, “We need a vehicle where we can find solutions for these challenges together — so when these monsters arrive in 10 years, we will be able to deal with them.”

So there we have it. Even as the Indian elephant and Chinese dragon circle each other warily, wondering how each will cope with the rise of the other, the Occidental mind which has enjoyed dominating the world and the global commons for two centuries is worrying about how to deal with the combined arrival of these two “monsters.”

Happily for the West, the arrivistes are not exactly on the best of terms with each other...

...

From the Chinese side, a number of scholars spoke of four specific problem areas with India. There is, first and foremost, the unsettled boundary and the fact that border territories are disputed. Second, the presence of the Dalai Lama and the so-called ‘Tibetan government in exile' is seen as a continuing irritant, especially in the aftermath of the disturbances which shook Lhasa and some other Tibetan pockets in China in 2008. Third, and this was surprising, the scholars acknowledged that China's friendship with Pakistan was a source of friction with India. And though they differed from the Indian side in characterising the current nature of the relationship, they acknowledged the fact that “balancing India” used to be a primary Chinese motive in the past. Their argument was that the rise of the Indian economy in the past decade has forced Chinese policymakers to de-hyphenate their South Asian policy. Finally, many of the Chinese interlocutors spoke of growing strategic suspicions that are made worse by a trust deficit. “Many people in China believe Indians look down upon them,” a professor from the International Relations department of Renmin University said. “India sees itself as close to the West and is willing to be used by the U.S. in its desire to become a world power.” Other scholars echoed the same view in different ways — that India might become part of an American-led effort to gang-up against China, that many in India subscribe to the ‘China threat' thesis.

...

As far as Pakistan is concerned, it is obvious that China and India have a crucial stake in the stability of that country and need to discuss between them what they can do to help the situation there. The Chinese side is well aware of the emerging ideological and institutional fault lines in Pakistan. If there is any country other than the U.S. that has the ability to exercise leverage over the Pakistani military, it is China. Until now, however, China has been reluctant to use its influence. For more than four decades, Chinese strategic thinking on Pakistan has been dominated by the need to ‘balance' India. But with India having outgrown South Asia and Pakistan in danger of imploding as the problem of extremism and terrorism slowly gets out of control, Beijing cannot afford to remain wedded to this anachronistic mindset.

...

READ THE FULL ARTICLE HERE http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/lead/ar ... epage=true

READ THE AFOREMENTIONNED WIKILEAKED US DIPLOMATIC CABLE HERE http://213.251.145.96/cable/2005/10/05PARIS7360.html (Specifically, the last paragraph.)

dnivas · Post by **dnivas** » 26 Jan 2011 03:56

http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2011/0 ... d-assange/

After months of investigation, U.S. authorities have apparently been unable to find any independent evidence that a jailed Army private accused of leaking classified documents gave them to the secret-spilling site WikiLeaks, according to a news report.

The information comes from anonymous Pentagon sources who told NBC that although there’s evidence that Pfc. Bradley Manning illegally downloaded thousands of sensitive documents to his computer and passed them to an unauthorized party, there’s no evidence indicating the recipient was WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange or his organization....

Vasu · Post by **Vasu** » 28 Jan 2011 10:42

Is it just me or has the young prince Rahul Gandhi disappeared from the scene after his Wikileaks moment?

No talk in the media these days, no Congressi mentions him, saw him a few times with a face full of facial hair when the camera panned on the big people watching the Republic Day parade. Ah, public memory is short, I believe.

rohiths · Post by **rohiths** » 28 Jan 2011 15:22

^^ He is partying somewhere in London or Paris.
On hindsight wikileaks may turn out be a fraud since they have stopped releasing cables. I dont think they are going to release BofA and swiss bank details as well

madhu · Post by **madhu** » 31 Jan 2011 20:50

what happened to SWISS BANK people's list? no news about Julian Assange? has the swiss bank account holders brought him?

dnivas · Post by **dnivas** » 01 Feb 2011 00:03

madhu wrote:what happened to SWISS BANK people's list? no news about Julian Assange? has the swiss bank account holders brought him?

JA said he was going to release the documents after analyzing data. The data elmer gave contained details on 2000 people and transactions, so they want to make sure that the list coming out is only people who are really doing some shenanigans.

Raghavendra · Post by **Raghavendra** » 02 Feb 2011 21:34

Al-Qaeda plotted fifth attack on 9/11: WikiLeaks
http://www.hindustantimes.com/Al-Qaeda- ... 57693.aspx

krisna · Post by **krisna** » 03 Feb 2011 22:51

WikiLeaks: Chinese weapons fall into hands of insurgents

Chinese-made weapons have fallen into the hands of insurgents fighting Coalition forces in Iraq and Afghanistan because of China’s failure to enforce export controls on arms to Iran, the leaked cables show.

US diplomats also feared that Chinese companies were selling materials to Iran that could be used to build nuclear missiles and other weapons of mass destruction.
Chinese-made guns, as well as rocket-propelled grenades and surface-to-air missiles containing Chinese-made components, have all been used against Coalition forces or civilian targets in Iraq, the US claims, while other weapons have been obtained by militants in Afghanistan.
The US was so concerned about Chinese arms and components being sold to Iran that in September 2008 the State Department launched a major diplomatic offensive to put pressure on Beijing.
It decided to share intelligence with eight “key allies” including Spain and Italy to “persuade China to enforce its export control laws more effectively” and to “aggressively implement” UN Security Council resolutions on the sale of arms and weapons materials.

(

spain and italy portugal are lining behind dlagon to help their economy.)

They included “new-condition Chinese produced small arms” which were “found together with newly-produced Iranian military materiel”; a surface-to-air missile fired at a Boeing 747 civilian airliner over Baghdad in August 2004 “assembled in Iran using a mix of Chinese and Iranian parts”; “two Chinese-origin QW-1 MANPADS (surface-to-air missiles) that Iran had transferred to Iraqi insurgents” and “hundreds of newly-produced Iranian PG-7-AT1 rocket-propelled grenades that contain Chinese-made base detonators” that had been “repeatedly fired at Coalition forces” by Shia militants.

China is by no means the only country accused of failing to implement export controls on arms and materials sales to Iran. In April 2009 the ambassador to the EU in Brussels noted concerns that smaller EU member states were failing to take seriously enough the threat posed by Iran.
One EU official told US diplomats that he had to “continually remind” European countries “that the situation is dangerous and unabated will lead to nuclear war in the Middle East”.
Later the same year the German computer firm Siemens was forced to recall 111 boxes of computers that it had sold to a Chinese company linked to Iran’s nuclear programme. A cable from the US Embassy in Berlin noted: “Siemens needs to be more careful about whom they sell to,” though it had “technically” done nothing wrong, as the computers were not controlled export items.
The US also raised concerns about the French firm Sofradir selling infrared detectors to a Chinese firm that were being used in thermal imaging systems sold on by China to Iran.

virtually the entire oirope is helping Iran along with dlagon.

Airavat · Post by **Airavat** » 04 Feb 2011 05:40

For better Indo-Pak ties, India suppressed infiltration figures: WikiLeaks

During his meeting with the visiting US Senators Russ Feingold and Bob Casey on May 30, 2008 in New Delhi, the then National Security Advisor, M K Narayanan, said that India has downplayed increase in infiltration and has not lodged a protest before the new Pakistani government as part of its effort to improve relationship with its neighbour, the cable said..........

"Narayanan's description of the effort to downplay the growth in incursions clearly aims to give the new leadership in Islamabad breathing room. However, if India experiences another attack on the scale of Jaipur or several more weeks of heightened violence and infiltration activity on the border, the pressure will mount on India to show its displeasure in public," the US Embassy cable warned.

Sanku · Post by **Sanku** » 04 Feb 2011 11:38

http://dailypioneer.com/315139/Britain- ... Leaks.html

Britain faces wave of suicide attacks: WikiLeaks

The documents also highlight American concerns that the British intelligence services are struggling to combat Muslim extremists because of budget cuts and a wave of lawsuits from terror suspects.

The leaked files also suggest that Britain faces threats from both foreign and domestic extremists. The documents show mounting US concerns over the inability of British security forces to apprehend terrorists intent on launching attacks on the

Muppalla · Post by **Muppalla** » 04 Feb 2011 19:53

I want to reiterate again that these Wikileaks are a joke. They are not only coming extremely slowly but also coming in a controlled fashion based on the changes in the geopolitics and also diplomacy. MKN leaks comes at a time when drone attacks have stopped. In addition, these leaks are so helpful as they are coming along with articles like US will go alone in Afghanistan and there is no need of Pak's help.

These are all deliberate leaks. Period.

Raghavendra · Post by **Raghavendra** » 05 Feb 2011 19:11

America 'sold British nuclear secrets to Russia': Shock claim in latest WikiLeaks cables
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article ... ussia.html

apoorv · Post by **apoorv** » 06 Feb 2011 05:56

New cable released about India and Pakistan:

http://wikileaks.ch/cable/2006/12/06NEWDELHI8387.html

More on this link:

http://wikileaks.ch/reldate/2011-02-05_0.html

shiv · Post by **shiv** » 06 Feb 2011 06:44

apoorv wrote:New cable released about India and Pakistan:

http://wikileaks.ch/cable/2006/12/06NEWDELHI8387.html

From the above
http://wikileaks.ch/cable/2006/12/06NEWDELHI8387.html

In a separate meeting, counterterrorism expert Dr.
Ajai Sahni of the Institute of Conflict Management asserted
his familiar line that, "the Pakistan establishment is the
greatest threat to security in the region." He described the
Taliban as inextricably linked to the "strategic terrorism"
of Pakistan. Citing the Pakistan army's oath of service and
government school curriculum, Sahni claimed that Pakistan and
Osama Bin Laden are "ideologically similar." At the highest
level, the religious extremists of Pakistan are "exceedingly
cynical," he said, observing, "they can shove the Sharia
(Islamic law) to the side if it gets in the way." On
Musharraf, Sahni stated that the Pakistani leader had done a
lot of damage, inferring that the U.S. had succumbed to
Pakistan's unspoken threat that it would "implode" and
destabilize the region. Separately, A.S. Dulat, former head
of India's external intelligence agency (RAW), spoke along
the same lines, claiming that the U.S. had "placed too much
faith in Musharraf." "If Pakistan wants to stop all this
(terrorism), they can do it," exclaimed Dulat, adding
"Musharraf can turn off the tap anytime. If the U.S. puts
pressure on him, he'll fall in line."

¶5. (C) Turning to the Pakistan intelligence agency (ISI),
Sahni insisted that the organization is a disciplined part of
the military structure of Pakistan, expounding that it
answers faithfully to President Musharraf and whomever he
designates. "ISI is completely integrated within the command
structure of the Pakistani military," indicated Sahni,
scoffing at the notion that the ISI has any plausible
derivability. Dulat implied that the ISI is guilty of
placating the U.S. government by catching a few known
terrorists, but "allowing Osama Bin Laden to go free."

also

Raising the GOP's Federally Administered Tribal Areas
(FATA) strategy, Ambassador Parthasarathy said he thought it
was doomed as soon as Ali Mohammed Jan Orakzai was named
governor of the Northwest Frontier Province. Assuring Palmer
that he had first-hand knowledge of this, he said, "Orakzai
has a visceral hatred of the U.S. Did you strip-search him
at JFK or something?"

¶7. (S) Pressed to expound upon his view of Pakistan's
current strategy, Sahni suggested that Pakistan is waiting
for the U.S. to fail. They expect the U.S. to get tired in
Iraq, he indicated, and subsequently to leave the region.
"If you can't handle a small country like Iraq or
Afghanistan, you will leave the region alone," he theorized.
"If they are successful in exhausting you," he continued,
"they will seek to dominate the region themselves."

abhishek_sharma · Post by **abhishek_sharma** » 09 Feb 2011 10:57

Details on the strange death of a former Chilean president

http://wikileaks.foreignpolicy.com/post ... acy_theory

Philip · Post by **Philip** » 15 Feb 2011 14:48

US conspiracy (using a bank and fraudulent documents) to destroy Wikileaks !

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world ... 15059.html

The US bank and the secret plan to destroy WikiLeaks
By Jerome Taylor

, 15 February 2011
WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange is preparing to release information on Bank of America

The computer hackers' collective Anonymous has uncovered a proposal by a consortium of private contractors to attack and discredit WikiLeaks.

Last week Anonymous volunteers broke into the servers of HB Gary Federal, a security company that sells investigative services to companies, and posted thousands of the firm's emails on to the internet.

The attack was in revenge for claims by the company's chief executive Aaron Barr that he had successfully infiltrated the shadowy cyber protest network and discovered details of its leadership and structure.

Hacktivists, journalists and bloggers have since pored over the emails and discovered what appears to be a proposal that was intended to be pitched to the Bank of America to sabotage WikiLeaks and discredit journalists who are sympathetic to the whistle-blowing website.

The PowerPoint presentation claims that a trio of internet security companies – HB Gary Federal, Palantir Technologies and Berico Technologies – are already prepared to attack WikiLeaks which is rumoured to be getting ready to release a cache of potentially embarrassing information on the Bank of America.

The presentation, which has been seen by The Independent, recommends a multi-pronged assault on WikiLeaks including deliberately submitting false documents to the website to undermine its credibility, pioneering cyber attacks to expose who the leakers to WikiLeaks are and going after sympathetic journalists.

One of those mentioned is Glenn Greenwald, a pro-WikiLeaks reporter in the US. Writing on Salon.com Greenwald stated that his initial reaction to was "to scoff at its absurdity".

"But after learning a lot more over the last couple of days," he added, "I now take this more seriously – not in terms of my involvement but the broader implications this story highlights. For one thing, it turns out that the firms involved are large, legitimate and serious, and do substantial amounts of work for both the US government and the nation's largest private corporations."

A separate email written by Mr Barr to a Palantir employee suggests that security companies should track and intimidate people who donate to WikiLeaks. Security firms, Mr Barr wrote, "need to get people to understand that if they support the organisation we will come after them. Transaction records are easily identifiable."

The Bank of America does not seem to have directly solicited the services of HB Gary Federal. Instead it pitched the idea to Hunton and Williams, a law firm that represents the bank.

A Bank of America spokesman denied any knowledge of the proposals: "We've never seen the presentation, never evaluated it, and have no interest in it." A spokesman for Hunton and Williams declined to comment. HB Gary Federal has acknowledged in a statement that it was hit by a cyber attack but has suggested the documents online could be falsified.

However, the two other security firms named on the presentation have not denied the authenticity of the documents. Instead, both Berico and Palantir issued angry statements distancing themselves from HB Gary Federal and severing ties with the firm.

But a statement from Anonymous claimed the presentation showed how sections of corporate America were "entangled in highly dubious and most likely illegal activities, including a smear campaign against WikiLeaks, its supportive journalists, and adversaries of the US Chamber of Commerce and Bank of America".

ramana · Post by **ramana** » 15 Feb 2011 21:19

It truly confirms what President Grover Cleveland said "The business of America is Business!"

shyamd · Post by **shyamd** » 16 Feb 2011 02:54

^^ Same with the UK too. The US kicked UK in the nuts on BP disaster. BAE has been weakened with corruption charges and having to pay a hefty fine to the US authorities ($400m I think). Then next problem is with Lloyds of London (the major insurance centre). UK and US had a major stand off over this 3 months ago.

The U.S. wants to make ransom payments to Somali pirates illegal, based on its conviction that the money handed over is being used to finance jihadist groups. However the UK, which is the capital of maritime commerce and maritime insurance, is fighting the measure tooth and nail because it would hinder shipping companies’ ability to retrieve captured vessels, potentially costing shipping companies and insurers alike a lot more money.

The US's problem was that the money is going towards jihadist groups and the growth of islamists. So the war was being fought in the UN etc and looks like managed to stay behind the scenes.

ramana · Post by **ramana** » 16 Feb 2011 03:01

ShyamD, I am convinced since 2002 that London and DC were fighing a covert war here and there in the shadows. Its to regain what was lost in 1945.

The Foundation wants it back.

shyamd · Post by **shyamd** » 16 Feb 2011 03:32

Well, I have only noticed things since UK decided to pull out of the South of Iraq. For me thats what triggered the major fallout in relations. They literally left the south to the Mahdi army and assorted Iranian backed militia's. Ever since then, the US has delivered blow after blow. BP, BAE and Lloyds are all part of the crown jewels of the UK. They dont want to be weak and have a take over of assets, in directly affect the economy.

Hiten · Post by **Hiten** » 15 Mar 2011 07:47

Hindu has published India-related Wikileaks cables

http://www.thehindu.com/news/the-india-cables/

SSridhar · Post by **SSridhar** » 15 Mar 2011 09:10

Hiten wrote:Hindu has published India-related Wikileaks cables

This is a series starting from today. One of the leaks is PM Isolated on Pakistan.
Excerpts

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 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.

Another one, India, US faced off on sharing 26/11 information with Pakistan

Yet another, Sri Lanka wanted US help as Indian radars were not sufficient

According to a cable sent from the U.S. Embassy in Colombo on April 1, 2007 (102721: confidential) and accessed by The Hindu through WikiLeaks, Mr. Gothabaya Rajapakse told the envoy that Sri Lanka's current radar systems were “not sufficient” to meet the LTTE air threat.

Two radars provided by India had two-dimensional capabilities, and two more were on the way, Mr. Rajapakse said. Sri Lanka had asked India for three-dimensional radars, “but after years of not receiving them, decided to purchase a Chinese system that is now in the process of being installed”.

Mr. Gothabaya Rajapakse told Mr. Blake that in addition to the radar systems, “not a single L70 anti aircraft fire direction radar — ALSO provided by India was working making any attempts to shoot down an aircraft at night difficult.”

“Bogollagama claimed that the three radars provided by India require down time every eight hours, and the government was investigating if the one installed at Katunayake air base was down during the Tigers' air strike,”

India's Iran policy designed for domestic consumption
Excerpts

The U.S. administration believes that India's Iran policy is meant for “public consumption,'' mostly to please the “domestic Muslim and Non-Aligned Movement audience,'' according to diplomatic cables released by WikiLeaks and accessed by The Hindu. . . . for all the public show of warmth towards Tehran, India's policy is based on a “hard-nosed calculation of its interests, not in public appeals to the historical and cultural ties between Tehran and New Delhi.”

Two other “key factors'' behind India's interest in maintaining a positive relationship with Iran, it says, are “its energy needs and its desire to play well with others in the region, especially at times when India's relationship with Pakistan (which Iran also shares a border with) is increasingly contentious.''

Another cable (199213: confidential/noforn), dated March 27, 2009, quotes K.C. Singh, the Indian Ambassador to Iran, as telling a senior U.S. diplomat that there was “a misconception in the West that India has a close relationship with Iran''. On the contrary, there was “minimal trust between the two states.''

“Singh explained that the Indo-Iranian relationship has not been managed well in the last decade. He characterized India's inability to deal with both the U.S. and Iran simultaneously, without ‘upsetting' one or the other, as a failure of Indian diplomacy,'' the cable said, reporting discussions between the U.S. Acting Political Counselor in New Delhi and Mr. Singh.

Mr. Singh, who served in Tehran from 2003 to 2005, was reported as saying that India's leverage with Iran had “significantly decreased.'' He expressed “uncertainty at how much India would be able to accomplish with regard to Iran'' in future.

“Singh attributed this in large part to India's vote against Iran at the IAEA in 2005. Despite the common strategic interest shared by Iran and India in countering the Taliban in Afghanistan, there is minimal trust between the two states. The Government of Iran is suspicious of India's ruling Congress Party for its perceived pro-U.S. leanings and considers India's voting at the IAEA in past years as a betrayal, according to Singh,” the cable said.

West Asia Policy hostage to Muslim votes

The United Progressive Alliance government's policy towards West Asia is dictated by its anxiety to keep the “politically influential Muslim vote bloc” in good humour, thus forcing it to walk a “tight rope” and refrain from engaging “too deeply” with the region. This is the recurring assessment sent to headquarters by confidential U.S. Embassy cables, accessed by The Hindu through WikiLeaks. New Delhi's reactions to Hamas's election victory in 2006, to Israel's attacks on Lebanon later that year, and to its air strikes on Gaza in 2008 are all interpreted through this lens.
‘Gutless’

Communications to Washington from senior American diplomats in the New Delhi Embassy constantly portray India's West Asia policy as being hostage to the Muslim factor in domestic politics. In its bid not to antagonise Muslim voters, the cables explained, the government was forced to play down its “strategic relationship” with Israel.

In one raw cable dated March 31, 2006 (58913: confidential), Ambassador David Mulford characterised India's public position on its relations with Israel as “gutless” and lacking in “moral clarity.” {There was a time India was accused of being too moralistic and preachy. Now this} “The underlying straddle of meek statements about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict combined with full-steam-ahead engagement with Israel on practical and strategic matters,” he wrote scathingly, “is unlikely to change. We should not expect any public courage from India anytime soon when it comes to condemning Hamas or reacting on [Ehud] Olmert's recent victory. Pragmatism trumps moral clarity in Delhi's Middle East policy.”

In Mr. Mulford's view, India had “chosen to remain silent” on Mr. Olmert's victory in order “to avoid ruffling Muslim sentiments.” He added: “India will wait until other nations voice their opinions and only then may decide to speak up, if forced or if advantageous to do so, a feature typical of the GOI when it comes to reacting particularly about Middle Eastern issues, given the importance of the Muslim vote bank to the ruling Congress party.”

In a cable dated August 4, 2006 (73697: confidential), a senior U.S. diplomat, Geoff Pyatt, wrote that Indian condemnation of Israeli military actions in Lebanon and Gaza was an attempt to “manage” the Muslim anger over the issue, “conveniently overlooking the increasingly tight security and technology relationship between the two countries.” Another cable, dated December 29, 2008 (184997: confidential), attributed India's strong reaction to Israeli attacks in Gaza to “public consumption.” It was in keeping with “India's past practice of publicly condemning Israeli actions for public consumption, yet privately protecting healthy bilateral relations.” {Isn't that how the US conducts its foreign policy too ?}
“The Government of India again walks a tightrope influenced by its election cycle,” the Embassy cable summed up. “It must convey to Israel that it understands Israel's current plight while doing its diplomatic duty to condemn what is seen by many here as oppressive tactics. From time to time Muslim leaders in India organize protests when they feel the GOI has not taken a strong enough stance against Israel during heightened periods of violence, and it is likely that by quickly condemning the air strikes, the Indian government felt it could preempt such demonstrations.”

Pro-US tilt in cabinet reshuffle

Cabinet reshuffles in India clearly have foreign policy implications, serving external objectives. This at any rate is the reading provided by a U.S. Embassy cable sent on January 30, 2006 (51088: confidential), sent by Ambassador David C. Mulford to Washington.

The January 2006 Cabinet reshuffle, which saw the removal of “contentious and outspoken Iran pipeline advocate” Mani Shankar Aiyar and the appointment of “pro-US” Murli Deora as Petroleum Minister was described by the American Embassy as signifying a “determination to ensure that US/India relations continue to move ahead rapidly.”

The changes also strengthened the cadre of “modernizing reformers” at the top in the Government of India, the Ambassador reported. The net effect of the reshuffle, he said, was a Cabinet that is “likely to be excellent for US goals in India (and Iran).”

“The undeniable pro-American tilt of the Cabinet shuffle,” Mr. Mulford added, “has infuriated the Left, which will view it as a throwing down of the gauntlet and an invitation to open warfare.”

Mr. Mulford noted that Murli Deora was one of several figures inducted with longstanding ties to the Indo/U.S. Parliamentary Forum (IUPF) and the Embassy. “The UPA inducted a large number of serving MPs, including seven from the IUPF who have publicly associated themselves with our strategic partnership,” he added. “To ensure that there are no foreign policy ripples before the President's visit, PM Singh retained the critical MEA portfolio and is likely to hold on to it until after the next session of Parliament concludes and Congress has weathered crucial Assembly elections in Kerala and West Bengal in May.”

The Embassy's Foreign Ministry contacts welcomed Mr. Aiyar's departure, and commented that his energy diplomacy had “encroached on MEA turf too many times,” leading to MEA appeals to the Prime Minister's Office to intercede. “Despite the PMO warning to back off, Aiyar's Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas continued to interfere with MEA attempts to craft policy, our contacts said, citing Pakistan, China, Burma, Bangladesh, Iran and Sudan as areas of inter-governmental conflict.”

Mr. Mulford pointed out that unlike Mr. Aiyar, who cultivated a reputation for anti-Americanism, Mr. Deora has been associated with the U.S.-India relationship for years. Mr. Aiyar's “self-promoting maverick diplomacy” was too much for the Prime Minister to accommodate.

Mr. Deora's “long-standing connection” to the Reliance industrial group, which includes significant energy equities, was described by the cable as his “only vulnerability.” Besides Mr. Deora, the new entrants with strong pro-U.S. credentials, according to the cable, included Mr. Saifuddin Soz, Mr. Anand Sharma, Mr. Ashwani Kumar, and Mr. Kapil Sibal.

Skepticism over Iranian nuclearization

In Nepal, India's Frankenstein monster

Suppiah · Post by **Suppiah** » 15 Mar 2011 17:36

Please see my post on the TSP thread....should be moved here actually.

SaiK · Post by **SaiK** » 16 Mar 2011 04:59

http://www.hindu.com/2011/03/15/stories ... 110100.htm
Starting today, March 15, The Hindu offers its readers a series of unprecedented insights into India's foreign policy and domestic affairs, diplomatic, political, economic, social, cultural, and intellectual - encountered, observed, tracked, interpreted, commented upon, appreciated, and pilloried by U.S. diplomats cabling the State Department in Washington D.C.

sum · Post by **sum** » 16 Mar 2011 08:56

Massive treasure trove being unearthed by Hindu:

Sonia versus Kalam?

CHENNAI: The issue of executing Mohammed Afzal Guru, sentenced to death in the 2001 Parliament attack case, “may bring to light longstanding animosity between President [A.P.J. Abdul] Kalam and Sonia Gandhi,” states a cable sent by the United States Embassy in New Delhi to Washington in 2006. It added that this was so “especially as a member of her own party, [Jammu and Kashmir] Chief Minister [Ghulam Nabi] Azad, has argued on Afzal's behalf” — a possible reference to news reports that Mr. Azad had pressed for clemency to be granted to the convict.

Sent on October 20, 2006 by Geoffrey Pyatt, U.S. Embassy Deputy Chief of Mission, the cable ( 82638: confidential) goes on to conjecture mischievously that “if President Kalam believes Sonia won't grant him a second term next summer, he may choose to push the issue into the forefront again at a crucial moment.”

Accessed by The Hindu through WikiLeaks, the cable highlights the “significant electoral dilemma” the Afzal Guru issue posed for the Congress, just ahead of the “crucial” elections to the Uttar Pradesh Assembly in early-2007. It quotes unnamed party sources as telling the Embassy that if “the UPA grants a pardon for Afzal or stalls his execution, the Congress Party will be portrayed by BJP leaders as weak on national security. If, however, the President lets him hang, some fear Congress may lose support from their traditional Muslim vote block on a national scale.”

The cable records the difference in the manner in which Kashmiri Muslims and the rest of the Indian public reacted to Afzal Guru's possible execution. It says that for Srinagar's Muslim population, it “highlights concerns about the fairness of the Indian justice system and failures in India's longstanding program to demobilize and reintegrate surrendered militants [such as Afzal Guru]”… For much of the public, commuting his sentence would demonstrate India remains weak in the face of attacks emanating from Pakistan.”

It quotes Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front Chairman Yasin Malik as telling a Consulate political officer that many “Kashmiri Muslims feel sympathy for Afzal” and that his only crime was “buying a car.” (Afzal Guru was not a member of the team that attacked Parliament but had bought the Ambassador car which breached Parliament's first line of security.) “How does this warrant a death sentence?” Mr. Malik is said to have asked. However, Mr. Malik's comments were at variance with many moderate Kashmiri separatist leaders in the Valley. One Hurriyat leader told the Consulate's political officer that his faction was “remaining as quiet as possible because they do not feel strongly that Indian should pardon Afzal.” { WOW!!!! Even Hurri-rats were divided??}

He said “moderate members of the Hurriyat are unable to express this view publicly, given the mood in the Valley and the threat from terrorists. He claimed that the controversy over Afzal Guru had led to a loss of support for moderates such as himself among Kashmiri Muslims, “especially [among] a small but growing cadre of Kashmiri youth who are being educated in extremist madarassas springing up across Srinagar with Pakistani Jamaat-i-Islami party funding.”

The cable suggests that the “easiest option for the Congress may be to delay Afzal's execution for years to consider his appeal for clemency.” This is exactly what has happened.

sum · Post by **sum** » 16 Mar 2011 09:00

Maybe Myanmar is our Pakistan

Long before U.S. President Barack Obama publicly asked India to use its influence to do more for a return to democracy in Myanmar, U.S. officials were quietly, but unsuccessfully, pushing New Delhi to take a tougher line against the military junta.

At each push, Indian officials told the U.S. that while New Delhi also wanted to see a democratic government in Yangon, it believed this could be better done by engaging with the junta rather than cutting off ties with it. Moreover, India had its own important geopolitical reasons to develop ties with the military regime.

India had no problem dumping old friend Aung San Suu Kyi (‘ASSK') to romance Myanmar's generals. The cables reflect U.S. frustration over the years at New Delhi's flat-out refusal to toe its line on Myanmar because of India's own concerns about growing Chinese influence in that country and safe havens in Myanmar for insurgents operating in north-eastern India.

One notable conversation between Ted Osius, Political Counselor at the New Delhi Embassy, and Mohan Kumar, MEA Joint Secretary dealing with Myanmar, is reported in a cable sent on February 20, 2007 ( 97303: confidential).

Mr. Kumar told the American diplomat that engagement with the Myanmar junta was an imperative for India for several reasons.

“The ULFA guys hiding in Burma are screwing the hell out of us!” he said, noting that “Burma is the only one helping us” to tackle the northeastern insurgency. “Tell Bangladesh to co-operate and I am happy to say bye bye Myanmar.”

{ Now that BD is cooperating, is it bye-bye Myanmar??}

Mr. Kumar commented that the Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN) and China maintained close ties with Myanmar but did not face the same pressure from the U.S. to refrain from engaging with it. “Do you want us to connect through China?” he asked. Tit for tat, he asked Mr. Osius why the U.S. was not pushing for democracy in Pakistan. “Why not pick on Musharraf? Where is democracy there?”

He compared India's policy in Myanmar with the U.S. policy in Pakistan. “Maybe Myanmar is our Pakistan,” he is quoted as saying in a dubious, though memorable, formulation.

{ Sounds straight out of BRF lingo!!!}

But when Cyclone Nargis struck Myanmar in 2008, it was India's influence with the junta that the U.S. fell back on (dealt with in cable 153452: confidential, sent on May 12, 2008) in order to reach international aid to the country. It is now known that very little of that aid actually reached the victims of the cyclone.

sum · Post by **sum** » 16 Mar 2011 09:02

MEA team's visit incensed Israel

In an extraordinary outburst, recorded in a U.S. Embassy cable from New Delhi, and accessed by The Hindu through WikiLeaks, Israel's Deputy Chief of Mission in New Delhi, Yoed Magen, accused a senior official of Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) of behaving “more often as the representative of the Palestinians, rather than India” during a visit to Israel in August 2005.

According to the cable, sent on September 1, 2005 ( 39624: secret), Mr. Magen gave U.S. Ambassador David Mulford “an unexpectedly downbeat readout of the August 28 visit to Jerusalem by MEA Secretary East Rajiv Sikri.” The Israeli diplomat told Mr. Mulford that the Israelis refused to issue the customary post-visit joint statement after the Indian delegation “insisted” that it should be with the dateline Tel Aviv and not Jerusalem.

“The Israelis went all out for this visit,” Ambassador Mulford relayed to Washington, “supplementing the formal Foreign Office talks (led by Deputy Director-General for Asia and Pacific Amos Nadai) with a call on Deputy Prime Minister Silvan Shalom. Magen reported that Indian Ambassador to Tel Aviv Arun K. Singh seemed shocked by Sikri's unreformed positions on issues like disengagement, adding that the Indian delegation appeared completely unmoved by changes sparked by Arafat's death, the Gaza withdrawal, and strengthened India-Israel ties. ‘It was like nothing had changed', the Israeli DCM concluded.”

In perhaps an unintended give-away, Mr. Magen “confirmed that the Israeli Embassy had been the source for a recent front page story and editorial in the pro-BJP Pioneer criticizing India for its failure to acknowledge the Gaza withdrawal.”

Ambassador Mulford, of course, made no secret of where his sympathies lay. In a comment, titled “Profiles in Cowardice,” he waxed eloquent on one of his favourite themes, the “duplicity” of the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government's Israel policy: “The contrast in public approaches between the NDA and UPA government could not be more stark. The continued old-think in MEA … clashes with India's proposal during the visit last week of Israel's Chief Scientist Eli Opper to expand the soon-to-be-established USD 2 million per year joint Indo-Israeli R&D fund to USD 25 million … It also stands in marked contrast to India's expanding defense trade with Israel. The GOI is willing to get down to business with Israel in defense, commercial, and scientific areas … However, the foreign policy establishment remains mired firmly in the past as the Congress-led UPA (beholden to India's 130 million Muslims for a chunk of its political support) continues to posture itself as the defender of Palestinian ambitions. The net result of this duplicity is that others have done more with Israel than the UPA.”

Check out the cartoon:

sum · Post by **sum** » 16 Mar 2011 09:04

Sheikh Hasina's adviser did not want her to linger in India

Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's adviser did not want her to linger in India for fear of criticism at home

Gowher Rizvi, her Foreign Policy Adviser, “sabotaged” her planned stopover in Kolkata during a “transformational” 2010 visit to India as he believed any delay in returning to Dhaka would give her opponents time to “put their spin” on the visit before she had a chance to tell the nation about it.

Dr. Rizvi, who taught at a U.S. university before joining the Hasina government, believed that even the 24-hour delay in the Prime Minister returning home to accommodate her visit to Ajmer after finishing her meetings in New Delhi, was too much.

Dr. Rizvi confided this to the U.S. Ambassador to Bangladesh James F. Moriarty hours ahead of the January 10, 2010 visit.

The conversation, reported by Ambassador Moriarty in a cable sent on January 10, 2010 ( 243013: confidential), revealed the hopes Prime Minister Hasina and the Indian government pinned on this visit for improving strained ties with India, and the domestic difficulties of such a venture for the Bangladeshi leader given the country's confrontational politics.

Dr. Rizvi told the Ambassador that pre-visit negotiations with the Indian side had been held very close within the Bangladesh government. The Foreign Minister had been brought into the loop only in the last week before the visit. Dr. Rizvi was dismissive of the Foreign Ministry bureaucracy. According to him, it “lacked creativity and vision.”

Contrary to the media focus on what new agreements the Prime Minister would sign in India, Dr. Rizvi revealed that in his negotiations with the Indians, the focus had been on implementing past agreements on transit and connectivity that had long been dormant. Two advisers in the Prime Minister's office had been drafted to help in the rapid implementation of these agreements.

sum · Post by **sum** » 16 Mar 2011 09:07

Cash for votes a way of political life in South India

Politicians and their aides in Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh admitted to violating election law to influence voters in the 2009 Lok Sabha polls through payments in the form of cash, goods, or services, according to a revealing cable sent to the State Department by Frederick J. Kaplan, Acting Principal Officer of the U.S. Consulate-General in Chennai. In conversations with a visiting consulate team, Karti Chidambaram of the Congress, M. Patturajan, confidant of Union Minister for Chemicals and Fertilizers M.K. Alagiri and former Mayor of Madurai, and Member of Parliament Assaduddin Owaisi of the Majlis-e-Ittenhadul Muslimeen spoke without inhibition about how they, their principals, or their parties made payments to voters during the election campaign.

In Madurai, “virtually every conversation centred on the parliamentary candidacy of Mr. M.K. Azhagiri,” who according to Mr. Kaplan had “added money” to his “political muscle” and was “using it to a degree previously unseen in Tamil Nadu.” His “confidant” Mr. Patturajan confirmed that cash payments were paid to voters by the DMK to secure the Assembly seat in the January 2009 by-election at Thirumangalam. “It is no secret at all, Azhagiri paid 5,000 rupees per voter in Thirumangalam,” he is quoted as saying in the cable.

In an instructive and entertaining section titled ‘Can I get another morning paper?' Mr. Kaplan explained the modus operandi for cash distribution adopted by the DMK in Thirumangalam: “Rather than using the traditional practice of handing cash to voters in the middle of the night, in Thirumangalam, the DMK distributed money to every person on the voting roll in envelopes inserted in their morning newspapers. In addition to the money, the envelopes contained the DMK ‘voting slip' which instructed the recipient for whom they should vote.” This, Mr. Kaplan noted, “forced everyone to receive the bribe.” Mr. Patturajan , he wrote, “confirmed the newspaper distribution method of handing out money, but questioned its efficiency. He [Patturajan] pointed out that giving bribes every voter wasted money on committed anti-DMK voters, but conceded that it was an effective way to ensure the cash reached every potential persuadable voter”.

S. Kannan, a mid-level Congress party official in Madurai, told consulate staff that “the 5,000 rupees per voter in Thirumangalam changed everything,” noting that previous bribes to voters had topped out at 500 rupees.

Karti Chidambaram admitted he “does give ‘a few sops' to villages that might be on the fence about supporting his father.” Most villages wanted a donation to the local temple and a community hall, he said. In his cable, Mr. Kaplan summarised Karti's position: “bribes are useful but not necessary to political success…bribes are one factor among many, along with the quality of the candidate, the strength of the party, and the issues. But he cautioned that bribes alone will not prevail.” Anil Ambani, Karti is quoted as saying, “can't win an election just by paying people off. It doesn't work that way.” Candidates needed a strong party apparatus in order to win elections, but “bribes can help put you over the top” in a close race.

According to Mr. Kaplan's cable, Mr. Owaisi tried to make a distinction between cash bribes given by rivals and payments to voters by his own party: “One community's leaders asked Owaisi that day to dig them a well. ‘So I sent one of my party men back later in the day,' he explained, ‘to give them 25,000 rupees (approximately 500 USD).' Owaisi emphasized that he does not give cash directly to voters, but rather funds worthy requests: ‘If they want a well, I give them the money, but make sure they use it for the well.' On the same day, he also told us that he had paid 35,000 rupees (700 USD) to pay for the marriage of an orphaned girl. Owaisi contrasted his practice of funding projects for the community's benefit with the Congress and Telugu Desam parties, which Owaisi said pay money to individual voters.”

Surprised by such candid responses, the U.S. Consulate-General officials asked Mr. Owaisi if donations like wells or marriage fees were not illegal. “Of, course,” came the reply, “but that's the great thing about democracy.

Pathetic that our netas boast about their criminal behaviour to outside observers...

ramana · Post by **ramana** » 16 Mar 2011 09:31

Interesting names are cropping up. Also note the Afzal Guru buying a car used in the attack on Lok Sabha is being an accessory to the crime which is also big in US.

SSridhar · Post by **SSridhar** » 16 Mar 2011 09:33

I have nothing to say: M.K.Narayanan

Responding to questions put by this correspondent over telephone on the WikiLeaks disclosures that Mani Shankar Aiyar was replaced by Murli Deora as Petroleum Minister under U.S. pressure, Mr. Narayanan, now West Bengal Governor, said “Americans can say anything,” adding he had no idea about it.

That's the standard line. It is after all one's words against another. I, for one, would believe what is available from the leaks because the diplomats do not have a necessity to fabricate something. They are needed to accurately report what transpired in meetings. Their analysis and conclusions are something else. We may or may not agree with those.

ramana · Post by **ramana** » 16 Mar 2011 09:39

SSridhar, Also read the MKN interlocution. There is a lot to be read in it and see how MKN dodges tosses.

SSridhar · Post by **SSridhar** » 16 Mar 2011 09:47

sum wrote:Pathetic that our netas boast about their criminal behaviour to outside observers...

Sum, it also shows the extensive contacts the American consular officials maintain. In Chennai at least that I know, these officials have become extremely proactive in the last six years that I have been living here. David Hopper earlier and Andrew Simkin later have been participating in functions all over Tamilnadu varying from Sanskrit classes, to iftaar parties to Carnatic music concerts etc. Very active indeed.