to be the government of the republic of India. A consequence of this is that the United States has never sought any internal political influence in India in return for external aid. The success of an independent, democratic India is all that we have hoped for."

'Indira Gandhi is primarily a political animal'

The letter to Dhar came two days before he gave his farewell press conference in New Delhi on December 22, 1974. A month after arriving in New Delhi as the US ambassador to India, Moynihan in a letter to US President Richard Nixon, was very critical of the socialist policies of Indira Gandhi.

"She (Gandhi) is primarily a political animal, and carry-over of this leftist, 'anti-colonial' political culture into present day India is such that anti-American remarks becomean all-purpose means of affirming ones loyalty to the socialist and egalitarian principles of the Indian constitution, a kind of loyalty oath which Brahmins doubtless find it politic to subscribe to from time to time," Moynihan wrote in his personal letter to the then US President, Richard Nixon.

Image: Indira Gandhi speaks to villagers during a political rallyPhotographs: Rediff archives

'Against US wish, PMO wanted bolstered CIA presence in India'

US wanted to pull out CIA operations in India in 1974, but had to reverse the decision just 30 days later as the Prime Minister's Office wanted the intelligence men to stay put in the country.

Not only did New Delhi want CIA to remain in India, but wanted the agency to bolster the presence here, claims the book on former US