India downplays WikiLeaks; says ties with US multi-faceted

NEW DELHI: Downplaying the WikiLeaks issue, India today said it has a multi-faceted and forward-looking strategic partnership with the US and there was a regular, open and candid dialogue between the two countries.

While reacting to release of diplomatic cables by whistle-blower website WikiLeaks, Ministry of External Affairs said, "We would prefer not to comment on the issue of Wikileaks which purportedly are an account of privileged internal US government assessments and correspondence.

"We have a multi-faceted and forward-looking strategic partnership with the United States and there is a regular, open and candid dialogue between the two countries, on a number of matters of mutual interest," the official spokesman of the MEA said.

As part of its massive leak of a quarter million classified documents of the US government, the website released a "secret" cable issued by US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in which she has described India as a "self-appointed front-runner" for a permanent UNSC seat.

Clinton had also directed US envoys to seek minute details about Indian diplomats stationed at the United Nations headquarters, according to classified documents released by WikiLeaks.