Wikileaks: Is India a mere puppet in the hands of US?

New Delhi, Mar 18: While the latest Wikileaks expose seem to present a cup of problems for the ruling UPA government, with the cash for votes controversy brimming over. The other worrying trend is the extent to which the United States have knowledge of the internal workings of India and the magnitude to which the Western counterparts have a say in India's internal matters.

Wikileaks seem to be blowing some clarity to the real intentions of the US and according to the whistle blowing cables, the appointment of Pranab Mukherjee as the Finance Minister was not received well by the US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. The US' preferred choice for the post was either P Chidambaram or Montek Singh Ahluwalia. The appointment apparently irked Hillary, who asked for a check on Mukherjee's priorities and background.

The cables read, “To which industrial or business groups is Mukherjee beholden? Whom will he seek to help through his policies? What are Mukherjee's priorities in the upcoming budget...?" She was also inquiring on why Pranab Mukherjee was chosen over Chidambaram and Ahluwalia. This particular information was revealed in a cable sent on Sept 2009 to the US Embassy in New Delhi.

The cable also revealed Hillary Clinton's extreme intrusion into the selection of India's ministers in key roles. The explosive revealations brings out the fact that the US would have liked it if their choice was in the helm of affairs. She also sought through the cables how Muherjee got along with the Reserve Bank of India Governor DV Subbarao.

The cables revealed Hillary's interest in knowing the economic agenda of Pranab Mukherjee and his views on PM Manmohan Singh's economic reform agenda.

Another explosive cable on India reveled that MK Narayanan did not voluntarily exit the post of National Security Advisor. The then US Ambassador to India, Timothy Roemer was quoted as saying to Hillary that Congress leader Digvijaya Singh had told him that a turf battle led to the ouster of Narayana from the coveted position.

The Wikileaks cable on India was revealed by The Hindu newspaper and has caused substantial damages to the UPA's image.

OneIndia News