Triloki Nath Kaul

[4] As a young diplomat, he suggested greater collaboration with Moscow, a policy that was rejected by Nehru who was more inclined to China.

"I recall our informal conversation in 1951 with Kapitzan, (Soviet Counsellor in Peking at that time), when we discussed, without the authorization of our respective governments and ambassadors, the possibility of an agreement for mutual cooperation and non-aggression between India and the USSR ...

In a cable, sent on March 17, 1973, Moynihan wrote, “Kaul, like Nehru family, is a Kashmiri Brahmin, self-assured to point of arrogance by birth.

“Hopefully, his sense of mission will overcome or mitigate his brahmanical disdain for “materialistic” American and his previous Moscow orientation,” Moynihan said.

This latter quality is not only Kashmiri brahaminacal arrogance, it also reflects Kaul’s propensity for misconstruing cleverness for sophistication in diplomatic dealings.

He quoted former US ambassador to Russia, Foy Kohler, as saying about Kaul: “Not ideologically pro-Soviet as such, but rather a slick ambitious opportunist who, having attained status as a specialist on Communist affairs, has hitched his wagon to the star of improved Indo-Soviet relations.” This assessment should be taken in context that during the 1970s the relations between United States and the former Soviet Union were hostile at best.