Kissinger regrets his choice of words

New Delhi

1 July 2005

Former US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger says he regrets his

choice of words and insists the comments be viewed in the context of cold war politics.

Referring to former US president Richard Nixon's reference to the late Indira Gandhi as

an "old witch", he told an Indian television news channel: "This was not a formal

conversation. This was somebody letting of steam at the end of a meeting in which both

president Nixon and I were emphasizing that we had gone out of our way to treat Mrs

Gandhi very cordially ... there was disappointment at the results of the meeting. The

language was Nixon language.''

The transcript of the Nixon conversation, which took place in the Oval office, was

declassified last week. "We really slobbered over the old witch,'' Nixon told Kissinger a

day after the President had met Ms Gandhi. Kissinger was then the national security

adviser. "The indians are bastards anyway,'' Kissinger had told Nixon. "Tthey are

starting a war there .... While she was a bitch, we got what we wanted too. She will not be

able to go home and say that the united states didn't give her a warm reception and

therefore in despair she's got to go to war.''

He told the television news channel the remarks did not reflect US policy of the day. "I

regret that these words were used. I have extremely high regard for Mrs Gandhi as a

statesman,'' Kissinger said. "The fact that we were at cross purposes at that time was

inherent in the situation but she was a great leader who did great things for her country.''

"First of all I want to make clear that I am a strong supporter and promoter of the close

relationship that is developing between India and the US so all of this has to be seen in

the context of the cold war atmosphere of 35 years ago where I had paid a secret visit to

China ...," he adds, "So it was in that context that we had assessed the immediate

situation and you can't say we were angry. We wanted to avoid a war between India and

Pakistan because we thought it would be very damaging to what we were trying to do."

He adds that the US recognises that India is a global power, that it is a strategic partner

of the US on the big issues and that both countries' experiences with terrorism had

helped bring them together.