WikiLeaks: US touted Bollywood stars to help Afghanistan

US diplomats suggest Bollywood stars could be sent to Afghanistan to help stabilise the troubled country.

MUMBAI: US diplomats suggested stars of India's film industry could be sent to Afghanistan to help stabilise the troubled country, according to a leaked cable published Friday.

The confidential US document from March 2007, released by the whistleblowing website WikiLeaks, said that high-profile Bollywood actors could play a key role in India's "soft power" assistance in Afghanistan.

"We understand Bollywood movies are wildly popular in Afghanistan, so willing Indian celebrities could be asked to travel to Afghanistan to help bring attention to social issues there," it said.

Bollywood, based in the western city of Mumbai, is a two-billion-dollar industry which has become increasingly popular abroad, not just among the Indian diaspora but in Pakistan, Afghanistan and Gulf states.

In Afghanistan, Bollywood films are regularly shown on television, though with the bare midriffs and plunging necklines of its sari-wearing actresses pixellated for a largely conservative Muslim audience. Movie soundtracks are also popular.

The suggestion, which did not come to fruition, was part of a role envisaged for India in what US diplomats called "people-to-people" assistance. Others included "symbolic" exchange programmes in areas like sports or business.

US diplomats in New Delhi described India as Afghanistan's "natural ally" and advocated using its vast wealth of well-trained, and cheaper, expertise to build capacity in areas including the civil service and electoral bodies.

But it warned that a key obstacle to increasing Indian influence would be Pakistan, which fears being encircled by its larger, powerful neighbour and traditional rival.

India has committed $1.3 billion to Afghanistan since the US-led invasion toppled the Taliban regime in late 2001.

Thousands of Indians are building roads, sanitation projects and power lines, while India is also building the new Afghan parliament.

But India's involvement has come at a cost, with a number of deadly attacks on its interests in the country, including at its embassy in Kabul.