Indians are ‘stupid’: Singapore diplomat

According to leaked US cables,a top Singaporean diplomat described India as stupid.

A top Singaporean diplomat described India as stupid,saying the country was half in,half out of the Asean grouping,according to leaked US cables.

The whistleblower website WikiLeaks released several US State Department cables that contained controversial comments by senior Singaporean foreign affairs officials on India and other Asian countries.

The cables,containing comments made during Singaporean diplomats meetings with US officials such as Deputy Secretary of Defence for East Asia David Sedney between 2008 and last year,were exclusively leaked to Australias Fairfax Media Group.

In one of the cables,Singapores Ambassador at large Tommy Koh called Japan the big fat loser in the context of improving ties between China and Asean. According to Australian newspapers,Koh attributed the relative decline of Japans position in the region to its stupidity,bad leadership and lack of vision.

Koh was equally merciless towards India,describing his stupid Indian friends as half in,half out of Asean, a leaked cable said. Asean the Association of South East Asian Nations in which India has an observer status is made up of Brunei,Cambodia,Indonesia,Laos,Malaysia,Myanmar,the Philippines,Singapore,Thailand and Vietnam.

The cables also contained comments from former permanent secretary at Singapores Foreign Affairs Ministry Peter Ho and permanent secretary Bilahari Kausikan on the political situation in Malaysia and Thailand as well as Indias position on Myanmar.

A September 2008 cable quoted Kausikan saying Myanmars neighbours,including China and India,are more concerned with stability than justice and they feared the juntas demise could produce an Asian reprise of the breakup of Yugoslavia, according to the Australian media.

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Kausikan also told Sedney that A lack of competent leadership is a real problem for Malaysia. As such,the situation in neighbouring Malaysia is confused and dangerous, fuelled by a distinct possibility of racial conflict that could see ethnic Chinese flee Malaysia and overwhelm Singapore,Kausikan was quoted as saying.

Peter Ho reportedly described Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak as an opportunist who would not hesitate to be critical of Singapore if it is expedient for him to do so.

Kausikan was also critical of the Thai government in 2008,labelling then premier Thaksin Shinawatra as corrupt along with everyone else,including the Opposition. He also said the Thai crown prince was very erratic,and easily subject to influence. Selective release of documents… will only serve to sow confusion, a Singapore Foreign Affairs Ministry spokesman was quoted as saying by the Straits Times.