INDIA STRENGTHENS RESOLVE IN AFGHANISTAN DESPITE

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 NEW DELHI 002967 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/01/2016 TAGS: PREL PGOV PTER PINR PBTS EAID IN PK SUBJECT: INDIA STRENGTHENS RESOLVE IN AFGHANISTAN DESPITE TALIBAN BEHEADING OF ENGINEER NEW DELHI 00002967 001.2 OF 003 Classified By: PolCouns Geoff Pyatt for Reasons 1.4 (B, D) ¶1. (U) This is an ACTION REQUEST for SCA and PA. Please see Para 8. ¶2. (C) SUMMARY: Following the Taliban's decapitation of an Indian mobile phone network engineer taken hostage in Afghanistan, Indian Foreign Secretary Shyam Saran made a thinly veiled reference to Pakistani support for the Taliban. After the second such killing in six months, and the ensuing outcry in the Indian media and political opposition, official Indian frustration with security in Afghanistan is mounting, and may result in additional Indian efforts to keep their people safe. While Indian resolve to help Afghanistan will not waver, fingers are starting to point at Pakistan. Saran's statement does not mean that the PM's efforts to forge a lasting peace with Pakistan are off track, but they do reveal that officials in Delhi draw a straight line from their murdered citizens working to rehabilitate Afghanistan through the Taliban and back to the Pakistani establishment. Saran's finger pointing answers Pakistani complaints about alleged (yet never proven) Indian mischief in Baluchistan, and reinforces the lack of trust between the two capitals over each other's intentions in Afghanistan. A strong USG statement of condemnation (see draft in para eight) can help clear the air before bad vibes spiral too much. END SUMMARY. ANOTHER INDIAN BEHEADED -------------- ¶3. (C) Indian media devoted saturation coverage to the grisly murder April 30 by the Taliban of Indian mobile phone engineer K. Suryanarayana -- an Andhra Pradesh native -- who worked for a Bahraini company installing a cellular network in Zabul province. The reporting was a flashback to the murder of an Indian driver from Kerala -- Maniappan Kutty -- murdered in a similar fashion in November 2005, and gave South Indians a particularly acute feeling of loss. Indian media were particularly shocked that the Taliban executed Suryanarayana before their own ludicrous 24-hour deadline for the withdrawal of all Indians from Afghanistan had passed, and reported with skepticism the Taliban's explanation that they had killed him when he tried to escape. MEDIA CALLS FOR MORE SECURITY -------------- ¶4. (C) The media coverage, while full of pictures of hysterical relatives, did not question why India had chosen to support Afghanistan so extensively, nor did any journalists or commentators call for an Indian withdrawal. Even the family members did not blame the government for what had happened. Instead, most press here said India had no choice but to stay the course, and influential newspaper Indian Express called in an editorial for India to mull taking additional steps to support Afghanistan, including raising force protection for its staff there and significantly expanding training and arming the ANA and police. The goal, said the IE editorial, was to show "the Taliban and its supporters in Pakistan" that India remained determined to "raise the political costs" to those threatening its Afghan interests. When asked by Poloff if the prevailing press line was on target, Afghan Desk Director Aquino Vimal said it generally reflected the GOI's thinking. NEW DELHI 00002967 002.2 OF 003 NOTE: India's security presence in Afghanistan is currently limited to about 300 Indo-Tibetan Border Police helping protect road workers and providing site security for the Indian consulates. END NOTE. INDIA POINTS THE FINGER AT PAKISTAN -------------- ¶5. (C) Frustrated at losing another Indian to terror so soon after it had promised to do more to protect official Indians in Afghanistan following the Kutty murder, and under the pressure from saturation media coverage on the eve of elections in the large Southern states of Kerala and Tamil Nadu, Foreign Secretary Shyam Saran late on April 30 made a veiled reference to Pakistani support for the Taliban, saying that his government was "appalled by this inhuman act of terror by the Taliban and its sponsors." The MEA timed the statement, which detailed at length the steps the GOI had taken since the Kutty murder to augment security and listed the actions taken once news of Suryanarayana's capture emerged, to make sure it appeared in all the morning broadsheets and on all the morning TV news shows. In addition, the MEA backgrounded that NSA Narayanan had spoken to Tariq Aziz about the matter. In Q&A following the statement, Saran said the Taliban had been "operating in the areas which straddle the Pakistan-Afghanistan border" and that the Taliban had committed acts of terrorism within Pakistan itself which demanded concerted efforts by the international community, including India and Pakistan. WHILE BJP PUTS THE UPA ON THE DEFENSIVE -------------- ¶6. Sensing political blood in the water, BJP opposition leader LK Advani issued a May 1 statement from his "Indian Security Pilgrimage" campaign trail complaining that India was "paying a heavy price due to the UPA government's lack of direction, coherence, and even a full-time minister in the vital area of foreign policy." Amplifying his party's concerns about what it calls "minorityism" and Congress' reliance on Muslim votes, Advani said, "The developments in Afghanistan are another instance of the UPA government's lack of comprehension of national interests in managing India's neighborhood policy...it's kid-glove approach to Jehadi terrorist' penetration in India -- both from Pakistan and Bangladesh -- testifies to the Congress party's vote bank politics." WHAT'S THE UPSHOT? -------------- ¶7. (C) COMMENT: India's official establishment is not about to cut and run from Afghanistan. India has compelling national security goals there, and there is general consensus to stick it out. With broad public support, India may contemplate increasing its force protection, and is already mulling an ANA request for non-lethal assistance. By poking Pakistan in the eye over the latest murder, Foreign Secretary Saran is putting Islamabad on notice that Delhi draws a straight line from killings in Afghanistan to the Pakistani security establishment. Such accusations, while they will not derail PM Singh's determined desire for Indo-Pak peace, do give the security establishment a way of countering unproven Pakistani allegations about Indian involvement in NEW DELHI 00002967 003.2 OF 003 Baluchistan, and reflect the lack of trust between Delhi and Islamabad about each others' intentions in Afghanistan. Before the bad vibes burbles further, we should issue a strong USG statement of condemnation of the murder, in an effort to clear the air and nip any war of words that might ensue. END COMMENT. ACTION REQUEST: SUGGESTED USG STATEMENT -------------- ¶8. (SBU) ACTION REQUEST FOR SCA and PA: We suggest the USG issue the following statement: The United States condemns in the strongest possible terms the vile and despicable murder of Indian engineer K. Suryanarayana by the Taliban on April 30. The Taliban's nihilistic and bloody tactics almost destroyed Afghanistan, and by their latest outrage they are trying to intimidate the brave men and women from many countries who are helping Afghanistan to rebuild. Indian engineers, educators, health workers, and technicians are working side-by-side with the people of Afghanistan to help that country put behind it the nightmare of Taliban misrule. India and America will continue to work closely together to help the people of Afghanistan. We will support India in its pledge to find the killers and bring them to justice, and urge all to help in bringing the Taliban to justice. BLAKE