US had multiple conversations with Indians over WikiLeaks

The US had multiple conversations with Indian officials on the release of secret documents pertaining to India by the whistle-blower website WikiLeaks, according to the State Department.

"We have had multiple conversations with officials in India. And like India and other countries, we'll continue those conversations in the coming days," State Department spokesman P J Crowley said at his daily news conference.

Ahead of WikiLeaks' release of a quarter million classified US documents, the State Department had reached out to India warning it about the impending leak.

"We have reached out to India to warn them about a possible release of documents," Crowley had said. "We do not know precisely what WikiLeaks has or what it plans to do. We have made our position clear. These documents should not be released," he had said.

Of the more than 250,000 cables, it is estimated that over 3,000 are from the US embassy in New Delhi, but none of them have been released by the whistle-blower website so far.

"The embassy cables will be released in stages over the next few months. The subject matter of these cables is of such importance, and the geographical spread so broad, that to do otherwise would not do this material justice," said the WikiLeaks.

"The cables, which date from 1966 up until the end of February this year, contain confidential communications between 274 embassies in countries throughout the world and the State Department in Washington DC. 15,652 of the cables are classified 'Secret'," it said.

Till late last night, WikiLeaks had posted less than 300 cables on its website.