Revelations about the extent of international spying by the US National Security Agency – including on some of Washington’s closest political allies – has ruffled global feathers and caused severe disquiet among leaders who counted themselves as trusted American friends.But at least one international politician who has pushed for closer ties with Washington remains unconcerned about the furore over America’s electronic snooping: Manmohan Singh, India’s octogenarian prime minister.In a country with more mobile phones than toilets, the Indian prime minister has for many years eschewed his own personal mobile – a decision that may prove his safeguard amid the furore over the US government’s electronic snooping, writes Amy Kazmin in New Delhi.
Manmohan Singh, pictured left, does not have a mobile phone, preferring to talk the old-fashioned way: on landlines. The Oxford-educated economist, who is credited with unleashing India’s market-oriented economic reforms as finance minister in 1991, also does not use email.
Revelations about the extent of international spying by the US National Security Agency have shaken governments around the world, especially following reports at the weekend Angela Merkel, the German chancellor, had her phone tapped for as long as 10 years.