The Present
Dr. Manmohan Singh is the present Prime Minister of India.
Loved and adored by almost every Indian before the Commonwealth scam broke out,
then 2G scandal claims by various media became true, and then came barrages of
revelation, one after another. India found out the he is incapable of decision
making, can’t control the allies in his coalition or his cabinet ministers or
the spokesperson.
Myths in Media:
Media had created a huge amount of myths around him. Such as He is
- Accidental politician (as if that is a virtue),
- Eminent economics professor (he didn't even retire as one, last semester was way back in 1971, age was 39 then, yes younger than present day Rahul Gandhi).
- Manmohan Singh is also said to be “Man of few (or No) words”, though back in ’66 to ‘70, he was the Chief, Financing for Trade Section, UNCTAD, United Nations Secretariat at Manhattan, New York, a very apt position man who talks less?
Past:Dubious Debut
During Manmohan Singh's Tenure at Delhi School of Economics as the professor , he was as
willing to talk to press as the proverbial “Rahul Gandhi’s bee” which landed
him a bureaucratic position in Economic Advisor, Ministry of Foreign Trade,
India; Offered by none other than Lalit Narayan Mishra, a close Indira aide, then
Minister of Foreign Trade, later Railways Minister who was murdered in an
unsolved bomb mystery. Mishra was mentioned in Mitrokhen Archives (A KGB
equivalent cablegate of wikileaks) for being many a things, including double
agent working for both CIA and KGB . Unfortunately we can’t verify any of them as of yet, as No direct
mention of him in any of the Kissinger Cables.
Enter Kissinger Cables:
Manmohan Singh is transferred to Chief Economic Advisor,
Ministry of Finance, India in 1972 and in this post we find a very talkative
Manmohan Singh appear in Kissinger files; First Cable (1973NEWDE04707_b) says
US Under Secretary of Treasury, Paul A Volcker is visiting India and Meeting
with Finance Minister Y. B. Chavan is scheduled on 30th April at
10:15 AM on a Monday. Manmohan Singh & Mr. M. R. Shroff (officer in charge
of Bank/Fund Transfer) will be present. Imagine that, Manmohan Singh talking on
a Monday at 10: 15 AM. Volcker actually met 6-8 persons, but rest of them don’t
get a mention in the cable.
IMF/IBRD Meeting of 1973:
Next cable (1973NEWDE09146_b) on Manmohan Singh, is when he was
Deputy of Indian delegation of C-20 (at a time when The Commonwealth Heads of
Government Meeting 1973 was on in Ottawa, Canada). Now we find Manmohan Singh on
his return to talking about Ministerial meeting held on 30-31 July. But why
would he give such detail to US? Like
SINGH EXPRESSED DISAPPOINTMENT THAT WHILE THERE HAD BEEN PROGRESS ON ISSUES OF PRIMARY INTEREST TO THE DEVELOPED COUNTRIES, THERE WAS NO SIMILAR PROGRESS ON THE SDR-AID LINK. HE FELT THAT BOTH GERMANY AND JAPAN WOULD ACCEPT AN SDR-AID LINK AND THAT IT IS ONLY THE US THAT STILL ACTIVELY OPPOSES THIS CONCEPT. HE SAID THAT INDIA WILL NOT SIGN A DOCUMENT REFORMING THE INTERNATIONAL MONETARY SYSTEM THAT DOES NOT PROVIDE FOR AN SDR-AID LINK, SAYING, "WE ARE NOT GOING TO GO ALONG WITH A PACKAGE THAT DEALS WITH SOME PROBLEMS BUT NOT OTHERS."
Mr. Manmohan Singh, which treaty India would sign or not,
The Chief Financial Advisor of Finance Ministry, can’t disclose? Especially to
USA, when India’s official stance was “Non-aligned” and rhetoric to countrymen
was “Socialism & Pro-soviet”. Didn’t you sign any NDA for this job? NDA of
course is Non-Disclosure Agreement. But He was concerned about Non-disclosure
to Elected Indian Parliament. As the next paragraph of the cable suggests:
SINGH INDICATED THAT HE SHARES THE US VIEW ON THE ROLES OF SDRS AND GOLD IN A NEW SYSTEM. HE INDICATED THAT INDIA HAD MORE OR LESS BOWED TO THE INEVITABLE ON THE ISSUE OF FIXED BUT FLEXIBLE EXCHANGE RATES, ALTHOUGH HE CONTINUES TO BE CONCERNED ABOUT THE PROSPECT OF PRESENTING TO PARLIAMENT A REVISED IMF CHARTER THAT CONTAINS ANY HINT THAT THE EXCHANGE RATE OF THE RUPEE COULD BE AFFECTED BY INCREASES OR DECREASES OF INDIA'S RESERVES, OR ANY BROAD COMBINATION OF OTHER OBJECTIVE INDICATORS.
No wonder USA loves Manmohan, for him briefing the US
government seems first priority (A practice he continues till date). I am no
enemy of USA, but for me India comes first.
Understanding the detail and importance of India’s stand on
IMF reform and government’s vulnerability, Moynihan hurriedly writes another
cable (1973NEWDE09158_b) in next 30 minutes, this time detailing the Press
reaction to same Ministerial meeting as briefed by then Finance Minister Y. B. Chavan
& Manmohan Singh to the press on 3rd of August. In the press
conference Manmohan had said Indian foreign exchange was “quite comfortable”
and
CHAVAN NOTED THAT INDIA'S IMF POSITION CONSTITUTED A SECOND LINE OF RESERVES AND THAT "IF IT IS NECESSARY WE WILL MAKE USE OF IT."
Had the information shared by Manmohan and Y.B. Chavan’s
press conference detail been exactly same, I could have asked you to overlook
his conversation, but it is not the same. While US embassy was doing great work
for their team, Manmohan Singh was letting India down.
By now, US is treating Manmohan as an “Asset” or a “Dear
Friend” and he appears quickly in cable 1973NEWDE09583_b on Aug 17. The cable
states Indian Delegation to IMF/IBRD meeting (IBRD = World Bank, International
Bank for reconstruction and Development) in Nairobi on 24-30 September, is now decided,
led by Finance Minister Y.B. Chavan. The delegation also contains Reserve Bank
Governor, Jagannathan; Economic Affairs Secretary, M. G. Kaul; and of course
Manmohan Singh and M. R. Shroff. USA is already briefed about Indian Position
by Manmohan Singh, may be some in the delegation does not even know that. But
important part in why this cable was done: In the reference section you will
find a cable (1973STATE159015_b) from Bureau of Economic and Business Affairs,
US Govt. asking embassies to report on
IMF/IBRD meeting delegations across the globe citing :
ADDRESSEES REQUESTED CABLE BY SEPTEMBER 7 AT LATEST INFORMATION ON (A) ANY IMPORTANT PROPOSALS COUNTRY INTENDS TO AISE IN PLENARY OR TAKE UP WITH IMF/IBRD OFFICIALS, (B) ANY MAJOR ISSUES WHICH COUNTRY DELEGATION INTENDS TO RAISE WITH U.S. DELEGATION, (C) ANY MAJOR ISSUES U.S. SHOULD RAISE WITH COUNTRY DELEGATION. RE 2(C), IN VIEW OF LARGE NUMBER OF COUNTRY DELEGATIONS, FORWARD ONLY ISSUES OF MAJOR IMPORTANCE RELATING TO ACTIVITIES OF FUND AND BANK.
Of course New Delhi Embassy of USA had done that already, as
early as August 7. Those who read about IMF meetings of 21st century, has very little idea about what transpired in 1973, even in morning of
24 September, cables were sent from Lisbon about who has boarded the plane for
Nairobi or Chinese protest on some countries or even African countries
threatening to walkout if the Apartheid regime of South Africa attends . If you
want to read about them, please go to wikileaks website, search Kissinger cable, put “IMF/IBRD
Annual meeting” in search string, select date range from August 1973 to October 1973 and search.
Thanks to Manmohan Singh, USA had very little to worry from
India. In next volume of Cables on Manmohan Singh, we will delve deep into
business of IMF, Rupee Crisis and Debt crisis of many countries including India
in 1973-74.
