New WikiLeaks: Why was Pranab made FM, asks Clinton

A day after a WikiLeaks disclosure indicated that the Congress had paid lawmakers to survive a vote of confidence in Parliament in 2008, another exposure seems to reveal that Washington closely monitors Indian political appointments - particularly those related to finance and industry.

US secretary of state Hillary Clinton is said to have questioned Pranab Mukherjee's appointment as finance minister and also asked its embassy in Delhi why Mukherjee was preferred to Montek Singh Ahluwalia, the Planning Commssion chief.

''To which industrial or business groups is [Pranab] Mukherjee beholden? Whom will he seek to help through his policies? What are Mukherjee's priorities in the upcoming budget?

''Why was Mukherjee chosen for the finance portfolio over Montek Singh Ahluwalia? How do Mukherjee and Ahluwalia get along?'' are some of the questions Clinton asked in a cable to the US Embassy in Delhi in September 2009.

Clearly, at a time of continuing recession in the US, Clinton's concerns are about doing business in perhaps the world's fastest-growing economy, rather than India's social shortcomings.

Social causes such as AIDS prevention (which she and her husband support through their charitable foundation) were probably the last thing on her mind as she cabled, ''How does Ahluwalia feel about remaining in this position (vice-chairman of the Planning Commission)? Which, if any, particular agenda items will he be pushing? Does he get on well with the prime minister?''