INDIA OPENS LOC TO HELP PAKISTAN DESPITE TERROR

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 NEW DELHI 008253

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/23/2015
TAGS: PREL PTER PGOV PINR PHUM EAID IN PK INDO PAK
SUBJECT: INDIA OPENS LOC TO HELP PAKISTAN DESPITE TERROR
FEARS

REF: STATE 195483

Classified By: PolCouns Geoff Pyatt for Reasons 1.4 (B, D)


1. (U) Summary: Consistent with the PM's admonition to find
ways to make the Line of Control (LoC) less relevant and
facilitate quake relief, the GOI is putting aside fears that
terrorists will seize the advantage even as it creates camps
along the LoC to provide food, shelter, and medical attention
to Pakistani Kashmiris requiring aid. Some of the modalities
remain to be worked out, including what documents Pakistani
Kashmiris would need to cross into Indian Jammu and Kashmir
(J&K) and then return to Pakistani Kashmir, but the GOI
insists the camps will be ready for operation within a few
days. Understandably, some commentators are concerned that
terrorists may use this as another method to infiltrate
across the LoC, or may even target the camps themselves.
India also has provided substantial disaster relief to
Pakistan and will participate at the Geneva Donors'
Conference on October 26. End Summary.

Helping Hands Across the Border
--------------


2. (U) Following the give-and-take between the GOI and GOP
that played out in the newspapers, Delhi is preparing to
build at least three "composite relief and rehabilitation
points" along the LoC -- and reportedly is considering other
locations as well. (NOTE: Both Delhi and Islamabad had
proposed five locations; construction is beginning on the
three sites that were common to both lists. END NOTE.) MEA
Spokesperson Navtej Sarna told journalists on October 22 that
construction has begun on border crossing zones in Kaman
(near the Aman Setu Bridge in Uri, on the route plied by the
Srinagar-Muzaffarabad bus),Teetwal (in Tangdhar District),
and Chakoti (in Poonch District) -- areas the GOI had
previously identified as possessing large numbers of families
divided by the LoC. Sarna estimated that the camps would
become operational as early as October 25. In addition to
functioning as meeting points, Sarna said that visitors from
Pakistani Kashmir could receive "medical aid, food, drinking
water, and temporary accommodation." This shifts the terms
of reference from meeting points as a people-to-people CBM to
aid camps for (temporary) cross-border refugees.


3. (U) These special arrangements will only be made
available to people directly affected by the earthquake,
Sarna continued, meaning Pakistani Kashmiris (vice Pakistanis
from other parts of the country). They will need to document
that they come from earthquake-affected areas, although Sarna
indicated there may be some flexibility on what papers the
GOI will require. The visitors will be allowed to stay at
these facilities overnight for medical treatment if required,
but Sarna indicated that most would be encouraged to return
to Pakistani Kashmir after their treatment is complete,
typically after a few hours. Furthermore, Indian nationals
will be permitted to visit these camps to see relatives from
Pakistani Kashmir.


4. (C) The J&K Police Inspector General (Kashmir) told us
that he is assembling the materials needed to build the
facilities envisaged and added that the camp in Tangdhar
could be set up within a few hours, but he has yet to receive
clearance from Delhi, or even clarity as to what organization
(MEA, BSF, etc.) will actually operate the facilities. Other
modalities will need to be coordinated between Delhi and
Islamabad before the plan can be launched.

Terrorism the Overriding Concern
--------------

5. (U) Understandably, the overriding Indian concern about
the relief effort is cross-border terrorism, which has
continued unabated despite the quake, with 11 Hindus being
slaughtered and a J&K minister assassinated in addition to
the daily killings of police and army personnel. A number of
op-eds over the weekend of October 22-23 questioned whether
terrorists would simply use this venue as yet another method
to infiltrate across the LoC. Of related concern will be the
security around the camps themselves; terrorists attacked the
Srinagar Tourism Center the day before the launch of the
cross-LoC bus, and terrorist groups will undoubtedly consider
whether attacking these relief camps will yield the political
mileage they desire. Hafiz Saeed, head of designated FTO
Lashkar-e-Tayyiba, was quoted in an October 24 interview with
an Indian news service saying that "If the LoC is opened,
more harm will come to Pakistan ... India will use it as an
opportunity to send over spies."

Indian Aid to Date
--------------


6. (U) Sarna also listed the substantial aid India has sent
to Pakistan, as of October 22 (Reftel):

-- 22 tons of medicine from the GOI, plus almost 40 tons more
from private donors;

-- 16,550 blankets from the GOI, plus 88,000 from private
donors;

-- 620 tents from the GOI (Army stocks),plus 20,000 from
private donors;

-- 35,000 quilts and mattresses from private donors;

-- 14 tons of plastic sheeting from the GOI, plus 14 tons
from private donors;

-- 100 tons fortified biscuits from the GOI, and hundreds of
cartons of other foodstuffs from private donors.

GOI Participation at Donors' Conference
--------------


8. (SBU) We hear that Minister of State (PMO) Prithviraj
Chauhan will represent the GOI at the October 26 Donors'
Conference in Geneva (Reftel). This senior political
presence augurs well for Delhi's participation -- Chauhan is
close to Mrs. Gandhi and is considered to be her "eyes and
ears" in the PMO.

Comment: Disaster Diplomacy Starting to Pay Dividends
-------------- --------------


9. (C) The LoC relief camps represent a multiple good news
story: helping to save lives, reuniting families divided by
conflict, fueling rapprochement, and building trust and
confidence in a part of South Asia that sorely lacks both.
India -- led by PM Singh -- is enthusiastically trying
"creative disaster diplomacy" to try to knock down barriers
with Pakistan in an effort to bring the two countries closer
than they were on October 7. END COMMENT.
MULFORD