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
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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
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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
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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
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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