INDIA COMMITTED TO RE-BUILD AFGHANISTAN DESPITE

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 NEW DELHI 008933 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/24/2015 TAGS: PTER PREL EAID MARR MASS PBTS AF IN PK SUBJECT: INDIA COMMITTED TO RE-BUILD AFGHANISTAN DESPITE WORKER'S MURDER REF: A. ISLAMABAD 17319 ¶B. NEW DELHI 21 NOVEMBER OFFICIAL-INFORMAL Classified By: Charge Robert O. Blake for Reasons 1.4 (B, D) Anger at Pakistan -------------- ¶1. (U) Anger in India is mounting following the November 19 kidnapping and subsequent murder by the Taliban of MR Kutty, one of 290 Border Roads Organization employees who have been working on the GOI-funded Zaranj-Delaram road in Nimruz Province, Afghanistan. The discovery of Kutty's throat-slit body on November 23 quashed nation-wide hopes that the Keralite worker and father of two would be released unharmed. The official outcry from the Prime Minister's Office, MEA, and Parliament against the murder itself risks being overtaken by more strident barbs, including against Pakistan, from the Indian media. For example, the moderate "Times of India" on November 24 announced the discovery of Kutty's body with the front-page headline "India Outraged as Driver Found Slaughtered;" meanwhile, former RAW officer and long-time Pakistan baiter B Raman contended in a rediff.com op-ed that Kutty's murder was "not a message from the Taliban, but a message from Pakistan through the Taliban" for India to downscale or zero-out its presence in Afghanistan. But GOI Playing it Cool -------------- ¶2. (C) MEA Joint Secretary (Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iran) Dilip Sinha told PolCouns on November 25 that the anti-Pakistan rhetoric and finger-pointing at Islamabad "is entirely media speculation." This reassurance is consistent with the measured public tone the GOI has adopted by focusing on the Taliban's self-confessed culpability in Kutty's murder. Sinha also said New Delhi's attempts to reach out to Kutty's abductors had failed, as apparently did the Afghan government's. Committed to Afghanistan -------------- ¶3. (U) The general consensus following this tragedy is that the GOI will stay the course on its significant Afghan development projects. As if to quell domestic critics before they might launch an "India out of Afghanistan" bandwagon (akin to the wave of public sentiment that followed the summer 2004 kidnapping and release of three Indian truck drivers in Iraq),the MEA issued a clear statement that New Delhi would not permit terrorism to reduce India's desire to aid Afghanistan. The statement read, in part: "The Government of India remains firmly committed to assisting the Government and people of Afghanistan in their quest for economic development and building a stable and prosperous country." Comment: Now More than Ever, the Benefits of an Indian PRT -------------- -------------- ¶4. (C) The Kutty murder is a sad reminder of the risks that India is absorbing as part of the effort to ensure the success of the Karzai government. Whether or not the GOI ultimately decides to send a Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT) to Afghanistan (see Reftels),it is Post's opinion that the decision ought to rest with New Delhi. There are a number of benefits to having an Indian PRT operating in Afghanistan, among them: (1) it would set an example as the first PRT from the developing world, and would join Australia and South Korea as the only non-NATO PRTs; (2) it would benefit from India's long-standing experience in both development and peacekeeping; (3) a greater Indian role in Afghanistan could help buttress the fledgling democracy there; (4) a PRT would further embed India in Afghan reconstruction, which the GOI appears willing to do; and (5) it would deepen overall US-India relations. Some Indian commentators have already remarked that the security of Indian aid workers in Afghanistan is compromised by the US unwillingness to countenance Indian "boots on the ground." Given India's established aid commitment in Afghanistan, and the fact that we are pushing the GOI to do even more over the long term, an Indian PRT in Western Afghanistan (far from the Pakistan border) strikes us as something that merits support. We acknowledge that, in the South Asian zero-sum framework of regional affairs, any move by New Delhi to increase its presence in Afghanistan will be met with Pakistani suspicion; however, Post views this as a challenge to be managed, not as an obstacle or a veto. ¶5. (U) Visit New Delhi's Classified Website: (http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/sa/newdelhi/) BLAKE