US in damage control, welcomes India as global leader

The US today said it welcomes a greater global leadership role for India, two days after its Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's remark describing India as a "self-appointed front-runner" for a permanent UNSC seat was leaked.

"We regret and condemn any unauthorised disclosures of confidential information and sensitive national security information," US Ambassador to India Timothy J Roemer said while reacting to release of diplomatic cables by whistle-blower website WikiLeaks.

"By releasing these documents, WikiLeaks puts at risk the cause of human rights, the lives and work of dedicated individuals, and threatens our ability to conduct essential private and diplomatic dialogue," he 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 Clinton where she has described India as a "self-appointed front-runner" for a permanent UNSC seat.