Sir — This refers to the article, “Cat is out of the bag, India-baiter trapped” (November 18) by Sandhya Jain. Since the mid-seventies, the US State Department had been squarely leaning towards Pakistan. I don’t know how much influence Ms Robin Raphel had, but quite possibly she had a major role in persuading other State Department officials to be sympathetic towards Pakistan. Her proximity with then President Bill Clinton made matters worse for India, even though Mr Clinton enjoyed hospitality in India that he never received anywhere else.