US turns down South Block’s choice of intelligence officer

New Delhi had recently sent in a name as the replacement for the earlier incumbent in Washington who has returned to be the head of RAW and there was shock and consternation when the US turned the name down.

Highly-placed sources say that the US claims that the RAW officer in question was not acceptable because his background could be “embarrassing to both India and the US.” US sources said they would be willing to accept anybody but the man in question.

While nobody in South Block is willing to talk about it, it seems that this is the first time ever that either country has turned down a nominee in this fashion.

Highly placed South Block sources feel the rebuff is part of Washington’s continuing retaliation over the Rattan Sehgal episode. The Government had, earlier this year, asked Sehgal, chief of counter-intelligence in the Intelligence Bureau (IB) to resign after suspicions of his alleged, “unauthorised” links surfaced.

Though these were never conclusively proved, or taken to the logical next step of prosecution, they resulted in mutual bitterness between India and the US.

New Delhi asked the US to withdraw two diplomats, including the CIA deputy station chief, also a declared and open position. The US retaliated by asking India to withdraw the RAW officials posted at its San Francisco and Chicago consulates.

The US government and its diplomats have been extremely bitter about the episode. They have repeatedly asserted that neither they, nor Sehgal “did anything wrong” and that New Delhi had “over-reacted”.