U/S BURNS IN HYDERABAD: A NEW CONSULATE, MORE

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 04 CHENNAI 002607 SIPDIS SENSITIVE SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PREL PGOV AMGT ABLD CMGT ECON KISL IN SUBJECT: U/S BURNS IN HYDERABAD: A NEW CONSULATE, MORE VISAS AND LIMITLESS GROWTH ¶1. (SBU) Summary: A busy series of December 9 meetings and a wide-ranging &windshield tour8 provided Under Secretary for Political Affairs Nicholas Burns a quick but thorough introduction to one of India,s leading boom towns and the planned site for the fifth U.S. post in India. While hi-tech driven economic growth, Indo-U.S. relations, and the new consulate dominated most of Burns, interactions, a discussion with leading members of Hyderabad,s Muslim community revealed a city still steeped in its largely Muslim heritage and allowed him to respond to a community suspicious of U.S. actions and goals. End summary. The New Economy: U.S. Company, Business School -------------- - ¶2. (U) A tour and briefing at the offices of U.S. company Computer Associates (CA),located in Hyderabad,s &Hi-Tech City,8 provided Ambassador Burns and his delegation with insights into a fairly typical American IT company experience in India. Started in 1997, CA India now has operations in six Indian cities, including its India Technology Center (ITC) in Hyderabad, established in 2003. With the ITC and its now 1,400 employees, CA has moved beyond providing technical support and software development from India to also doing new product and process development. This step is common for foreign companies, many of whom started in India with &back office8 operations, but have added more complex, higher value processes. From the roof of the building where CA currently leases space, Ambassador Burns could see offices of a &who,s-who8 of American and other IT companies, as well as large-scale construction in every direction. CA itself plans to establish its own office campus in the rapidly developing &Cyberabad8 area where Microsoft already has its largest operation outside of its Redmond, Washington headquarters. ¶3. (U) Asked how many of CA,s 1,400 Hyderabad-based employees would need U.S. visas, site manager Joga Ryali, a U.S. citizen who recently returned to his native India after 22 years in Silicon Valley, said most of the employees will need to go to the U.S. for training or customer meetings. He expressed gratitude for the recent improvements in visa processing at Chennai (the nearest visa processing post, Chennai is almost 400 miles and an overnight trip away),and he welcomed the prospect of even speedier and more convenient service from a U.S. consulate in Hyderabad. As evidence of the growing demand for visas, Ryali and his colleagues noted that one of every four IT professionals in Silicon Valley is from India and that one of every four of those Indians hails from the state of Andhra Pradesh. They also pointed out that on the heels of the past year,s 78% growth in IT exports from Andhra Pradesh, a further 51% is expected in the coming year. ¶4. (U) Ambassador Burns, subsequent visit to the Indian School of Business (ISB),located adjacent to the Microsoft facility, told the tale of India,s economic boom from a different perspective. Established in 2001 in collaboration with the Kellogg School of Management, The Wharton School and the London Business School, and totally privately funded, ISB seeks to meet the need for a world-class business school in Asia. President Bush visited ISB during his March visit for his roundtable with young Indian entrepreneurs, and Indian Prime Minister Singh had attended ISB,s fifth anniversary celebration just a few days prior to Ambassador Burns, visit. ISB currently has 418 students from all across India. ¶5. (U) Speaking to students during ISB,s annual business plan competition, Ambassador Burns, termed India the current &it8 country in the U.S., and he noted the emerging partnership between the U.S. and India as symbolized by the just-approved civil nuclear agreement, the boom in trade and investment, the number of Indian students in the U.S., the highly successful Indian-American community, and the popularity of Indian popular culture. Ambassador Burns also noted the Mission,s efforts to expedite U.S. visa processing and the plans for a consulate in Hyderabad. During an off-the-record Q and A session, Ambassador Burns responded to questions about the civil nuclear agreement, U.S. aid for development, and the free flow of human capital. Asked about the prospects for Indian membership on the U.N Security Council, Ambassador Burns said that regional representation, effectiveness and a country,s ability to contribute will be important criteria for Security Council expansion. Political Leaders Endorse Indo-U.S. Ties -------------- ¶6. (SBU) Meetings with Andhra Pradesh (AP) Congress Party CHENNAI 00002607 002 OF 004 President K. Kesava Rao and former AP Chief Minister and current state opposition leader N. Chandrababu Naidu provided Ambassador Burns with political perspective. Rao, who also is a member of the upper house of India,s Parliament, said good Indo-U.S. relations enjoy &nation-wide, people-based8 approval among the Indian population as well as &general support8 in the Parliament. The new Hyderabad consulate is &the best thing the U.S. has done,8 commented Rao, who fondly reminisced about Hyderabad's American Library (since closed) where he spent many happy afternoons as a student. Rao also promised to help finalize all pending paperwork between AP and Delhi for the permanent consulate site. Rao noted that investment in AP has increased eight-fold in the past 30 months, and he touted Special Economic Zones (SEZ) and public-private partnerships as ways to move forward. Asked about the controversy over agrarian lands being taken for SEZs, Rao said the government is working on guidelines to ensure valuable agricultural property is not taken. He added that the Congress government has worked hard on rural outreach to address poverty and to ease the Naxalite threat. Responding to a question about foreign university interest in India, Rao said there &still are issues,8 and that adequate regulation must be in place before foreign institutions are allowed to open campuses in India. ¶7. (SBU) Ambassador Burns told Rao that Indo-U.S. relations have never been stronger, noting successes on the civil nuclear agreement, trade development, and military cooperation. He added that the U.S. believes more needs to be done with India on counter-terrorism and agriculture. Rao agreed that stronger bilateral relations should be the goal, adding that the majority of Indians support the UPA coalition,s &line8 on improved ties with the U.S. On the civil nuclear agreement, Rao noted that a &few technicalities8 remain to be resolved, but news of it,s passage by the U.S. Congress was &overwhelming.8 Ambassador Burns rejoined that any issues can be overcome and that the good negotiations on the civil nuclear agreement had built confidence between the two governments. ¶8. (SBU) Chandrababu Naidu, former Chief Minister of AP and acknowledged architect of Hyderabad,s economic take-off, opened by asking Ambassador Burns for his views on India. Burns replied that he is not an expert on India, but he could speak to Indo-U.S. relations, saying that the bilateral relationship is set to be one of our most important. He added that the civil nuclear agreement had become the symbol of the emerging relationship and &now it is done.8 Naidu agreed that relations are good, adding that he is &very pleased8 in that regard. He said India is very strong on the technology front, but it needs to concentrate more on infrastructure. He continued that now the important question for India is how to take the benefits of the country,s economic reforms to the common man, adding that &trickle down,8 while occurring, may not be fast enough. Naidu said &all (political) parties talk this line; the question is implementation.8 Two things about India are certain, Naidu said: coalition governments at the Center and economic growth. &All agree8 that growth must continue. Naidu commented that a decade ago Andhra Pradesh produced only 8,000 engineering and computer sciences graduates a year, and many left for the U.S. Now, he said, the annual number is 100,000, resulting, ironically, in a &brain gain.8 Most importantly, the psychology of those graduates has been transformed into a &can do8 culture that has helped India recover its national pride and its sense that challenges can be met. Naidu said with satisfaction that Hyderabad had won its friendly rivalry with Bangalore, besting it in every dimension, including roads, airports, education, biotech, and governance. ¶9. (SBU) Moving to the international scene, Naidu asked Ambassador Burns if he &prefers8 India or China. Common values make the U.S. and India natural partners, Ambassador Burns replied, adding that the U.S. is concerned about China,s military build-up. He explained that the world has changed, and that it would be foolish to think we can contain China as we once did the Soviet Union. The new Indo-U.S. relationship shows China that it has an incentive to cooperate, Ambassador Burns concluded. Naidu said the Iran-Iraq situation is the &world,s biggest problem,8 to which Ambassador Burns rejoined that Iran is the more worrisome. Iran,s radical government, its belief that it will be the region,s greatest power, and its potential to block an Israel-Palestine solution all are very serious concerns. Iran with nuclear weapons would be unacceptable to the U.S., Ambassador Burns concluded. Bidding farewell, Ambassador Burns invited Naidu to visit the State Department the next time he travels to the U.S. CHENNAI 00002607 003 OF 004 Muslim Leaders Air Views -------------- ¶10. (U) The 120-year old Nizam Club, a sharp contrast to modern, hi-tech Hyderabad, was the venue for Ambassador Burns, lunch and roundtable discussion with leaders from the large Muslim community (about 40% of the city,s population). Hosted by Zaheed Ali Khan, chief editor of The Siasat newspaper, a moderate, widely read Urdu daily, roundtable guests included an AP government minister, academics from secular and religious educational institutions, and a former AP Chief Justice, among others. Although virtually all of the participants have ties to the U.S. through family, education or travel and all professed positive attitudes about the country, they were not reticent in expressing varying degrees of unhappiness about U.S. policies in the Muslim world. Although the pointed but respectful questions included topics such as Guantanamo detainees and Iraq, the questioners, strongest points concerned Israel-Palestine. One questioner,s comment that Palestine is &the central issue to lift the hearts of Muslims around the world8 brought applause from several of the participants. Acknowledging the importance of progress on Palestine and the disaffection caused by Iraq, Ambassador Burns said the U.S. is proud of what it has done and is doing to support and assist Muslims, such as in the Bosnia conflict and elsewhere. ¶11. (U) Roundtable participants clearly appreciated the opportunity to meet and talk with Ambassador Burns. Subsequently, one academic wrote to Consulate General Chennai, &Ambassador Burns, special gesture of taking time out to meet Muslims from Hyderabad and ascertain their views about American policies is a welcome one and demonstrates unequivocally the intentions of the U.S. government to reach out to sections of the international community which are ostensibly unhappy, with American policies. It is a gesture I as an Indian and a Muslim appreciate wholeheartedly.8 Consulate Sites: The New Frontier -------------- ¶12. (U) Ambassador Burns also briefly toured the agreed upon site for an interim U.S. consulate in Hyderabad, the &Paigah Palace8 heritage compound that currently houses AP government offices. The AP government protocol and heritage officials who conducted the tour clearly were delighted by the prospect of a U.S. consulate in their city and the planned use of the site. Enroute to the Indian School of Business Ambassador Burns also was driven by the proposed site for construction of a purpose-built consulate building, located near the mammoth Microsoft campus and the new headquarters for Computer Associates, Hyderabad presence. Ambassador Burns also spoke to TV channel ETV, which broadcasts in all of south India,s vernacular languages, about the new consulate, noting that it is one manifestation of the U.S. government,s commitment to the bilateral relationship. (Presently, Iran is the only country with a consulate in Hyderabad.) Comment: Opportunities Await -------------- ¶13. (SBU) Hyderabadis were delighted that Ambassador Burns, the U.S. &star8 of the civil nuclear negotiations and a very familiar face from media coverage of that process, chose to visit their city. They expressed unanimous support for the agreement, they proudly touted the growth and development of their booming city, and they showed great enthusiasm for the prospect of a U.S. consulate. Indeed, Ambassador Burns, visit encapsulated the need for a consulate and some of the challenges it will face in Hyderabad ) a city of seven million with close ties to the U.S. and a booming economy, thus generating an enormous demand for U.S. visa services. Also apparent are the opportunities for American companies to take advantage of the growing economy, including its energy needs, and the scope for outreach and public diplomacy, especially with the city,s large Muslim community. End comment. ¶14. (U) For his Hyderabad visit Ambassador Burns was accompanied by SCA/INS Director Marcia Bernicat, P Special Assistant Anja Manuel, Embassy New Delhi Political Officer Atul Keshap, and Chennai Principal Officer David Hopper. This message was coordinated with Embassy New Delhi and cleared by P. CHENNAI 00002607 004 OF 004 HOPPER