Wikileaks Confirmed What India Had Long Said About Pakistan and Mumbai

In December 2010, Wikileaks published a tranche of diplomatic cables that included American assessments of Pakistan's response to the 2008 Mumbai attacks. The Hindustan Times reported that the cables confirmed India's longstanding position: Pakistan had done nothing of substance to prosecute those responsible.

The cables offered a third-party corroboration of what New Delhi had been saying through official channels since the attacks in November 2008. The principal accused, Hafiz Saeed, remained free. The trial in Rawalpindi was moving slowly and, in the Indian government's assessment, without genuine intent to prosecute.

For the UPA government, the Wikileaks disclosures were in one sense vindicating. India had consistently maintained that Pakistan was not acting in good faith on Mumbai, and American diplomats appeared to share that view privately. At the same time, the disclosures also raised a question: if both India and the United States privately agreed that Pakistan had done nothing, what had two years of sustained diplomatic engagement actually achieved?

The UPA continued to pursue dialogue. Hafiz Saeed remained free.