Wikileaks - India

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Leaks show US is India's strategic partner

India cannot "imagine for a moment a Taliban takeover of its extended neighbor" Afghanistan, defence minister A K Antony bluntly told the visiting US national security advisor James Jones in 2009, in what brought out India's fears over the return of Pak-controlled militia and the fear that US may be losing their appetite for a prolonged confrontation in Afghanistan. Antony also frankly said India wants US led "international community's operations there must succeed".

On February 12, 2009, the US ambassador David C Mulford in a detailed briefing note for the late Richard Holbrooke, the US president's special representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan, who was visiting New Delhi, summed up, "The nuclear deal and a closer strategic relationship with the United States have generated an extraordinary public debate in India during the last year. We have won this debate hands down and, as a result, the U.S.-India relationship has a strong foundation on which to grow over the coming decades."

our recent improvement in relations have made Delhi much more amenable to cooperating on regional issues, as evidenced by our efforts together ranging [color="#FF0000"]from tsunami relief to Nepalese democracy [/color]to anti-piracy in the Gulf and off Somalia. Trend lines suggest the opportunity for even greater cooperation is ripe."

The cable from Mulford is important also in that it illuminates how US's commercial interests have been among the key drivers of search for closer ties." For the United States to fully realize the commercial benefits of civil nuclear cooperation, India must "follow through on its commitment to set aside nuclear reactor park sites for US firms" and address other industry concerns, such as patent protection and adoption of domestic liability protection.



Successful implementation of the nuclear agreement will "provide access to an estimated $150 billion in commercial opportunities for US firms and lead to the creation of up to 30,000 American jobs over the next three decades," the ambassador estimates. "It will also help protect the Congressional bipartisan consensus for India and preserve the unprecedented popularity of the United States among Indians, on which our growing bilateral relationship depends," he argues.

In another cable, the US ambassador quotes Shiv Shankar Menon as saying, "there was no popular resistance to the idea of FBI involvement in the Mumbai investigations. Menon concluded, "We have a huge confluence of interests, and as long as that exists we will work together." Boucher assured Menon that India could rely on the U.S. to keep up the pressure on Pakistan; Menon replied, "And you can count on our pressure on you to help you do it."

Apparently, massa's tentacles are very deep in desh and far beyond anything we have been able to piece together. Above is massa gloating..