Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
07NEWDELHI2139
2007-05-04 11:02:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy New Delhi
Cable title:  

DELHI DIARY, APRIL 26-MAY 4

Tags:  PREL PGOV MARR MOPS AF PK IR IN 
pdf how-to read a cable
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C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 NEW DELHI 002139 

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SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/04/2017
TAGS: PREL PGOV MARR MOPS AF PK IR IN
SUBJECT: DELHI DIARY, APRIL 26-MAY 4

REF: A. IIR 6 844 0679 07

B. NEW DELHI 2101

Classified By: Acting PolCouns Atul Keshap for Reasons 1.4 (B,D)

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 NEW DELHI 002139

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/04/2017
TAGS: PREL PGOV MARR MOPS AF PK IR IN
SUBJECT: DELHI DIARY, APRIL 26-MAY 4

REF: A. IIR 6 844 0679 07

B. NEW DELHI 2101

Classified By: Acting PolCouns Atul Keshap for Reasons 1.4 (B,D)


1. (U) Below is a compilation of political highlights from
Embassy New Delhi for April 26-May 4, 2007 that did not
feature in our other reporting, including:

-- Indian Boots on the Ground in Afghanistan?
-- Parliamentary Histrionics Play On
-- Bhutanese Refugees Want To Participate In Election
-- MEA Not Big Enough for Its Britches

Indian Boots on the Ground in Afghanistan?
--------------


2. (C) Media reports April 24-25 indicating that the Indian
Army was planning to send a team of eight army officers to
Kabul in May to teach Afghan National Army (ANA) troops and
officers to "read, write and speak in English," as well as to
train them in weapons handling, map craft and fundamental
battalion procedures were taken out of context, according to
the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) and DAO sources (see
reftel a). The press quoted "defense sources" as stating
that the decision to send the officers followed a request
from the MEA. The team was to include four officers from the
Army Education Corps, responsible for operating the Indian
Army's own basic military education programs, according to
"The Telegraph." Local news outlet NDTV reported that a
similar training group would be deployed to Uzbekistan in the
next six months.


3. (C) Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) (Afghanistan)
Under Secretary Smita Pant told PolOff April 26 that the
media reports had been a surprise to her, and that, although
the Government of India (GOI) had been conducting English
language training as part of their educational efforts in
Afghanistan, the GOI was "not in any way involved in training
the Afghan National Army." Only civil institutions were
involved in teaching English in Afghanistan, she said,
adding, "our involvement in Afghanistan is restricted to
reconstruction and development." The MEA made a formal

statement the same day, declaring, "defense establishments in
India hold training programs from time to time for military
personnel from other countries, including Afghanistan.
However, there is no proposal to send Indian Army personnel
to Afghanistan for training the Afghan army." Incoming MEA
Joint Secretary for Pakistan, Afghanistan and Iran, T.C.A.
Raghavan, however, confirmed to PolCouns May 1 (see ref b)
that some Army Education Corps instructors were going to
Afghanistan to teach English to ANA troops, but clarified
that the program involved no infantry training.


4. (C) However, Ministry of Defense sources validated the
media reports to the DAO, stating that eight to twelve
English language instructors from the Army Education Corps
Language School were indeed going to Afghanistan to train ANA
and Government of Afghanistan officials as part of a an
assistance package funded by the MEA.


5. (SBU) Comment: This story was not heavily reported in
the media, but outlets that did carry it were somewhat
alarmist, calling the prospect of an Indian Army presence in
Afghanistan "a shift to a higher gear," and "a step-up for
India in its involvement in Afghanistan, where it has so far
refused to put boots on the ground." According to NDTV,
former Director General of Military Intelligence Lt. General
R.K. Sawhney, said, "This decision will send a wrong signal
in the neighborhood. India can do whatever it wants in
reconstruction of war-ravaged Afghanistan, but to send even a
small training team is fraught with dangers. Pakistan will
instigate the Taliban against us, and even Iran will not take
it kindly." We will keep seeking confirmation of India's
intentions. End comment.


6. (SBU) Though the budget is expected to be passed by both

NEW DELHI 00002139 002 OF 002


houses by May 5, this has not prevented Members of Parliament
(MP) from indulging in their usual political antics and
attacks. Congress and the Left parties accused the Bharatiya
Janata Party (BJP) of human trafficking, following the recent
arrest of a BJP MP for people smuggling. They also called
for the resignation of Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi,
after the press reported that Gujarat police murdered
innocent Muslims in encounter killings, and protested the BJP
release of a scurrilous anti-Muslim CD during Uttar Pradesh
elections.


7. (SBU) On April 30, the BJP walked out to protest the CPI
(M) government's role in the death of farmers in Nandigram,
West Bengal. BJP MPs also repeated accusations that the
United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government is not
sufficiently committed to fighting terrorism, protesting
alleged UPA complacence regarding the presence of Lashkar e
Taiba elements at a recent Srinagar rally.


8. (SBU) Not to be left out, regional parties joined the
chaos, loudly demanding quotas for Other Backward Castes
(OBCs) in government funded higher education institutions,
including the Indian Institutes of Technology and Management.



9. (SBU) Comment: Despite the many important topics
demanding attention, including foreign direct investment,
inflation, Special Economic Zones, and the impact of global
warming on India's agrarian economy, Indian MPs continue to
indulge in political theater. Parliament is now considering
whether it should adjourn in early May before Uttar Pradesh
election results are announced. It is doubtful that
Parliament will consider any substantive business after
passage of the budget. End Comment.

Bhutanese Refugees Want To Participate In Election
--------------


10. (U) In Nepal, representatives of the thousands of
Bhutanese expelled by the Bhutanese Government in the 1990s
have petitioned the King of Bhutan for the right of the
exiled refugees to participate in the upcoming election.
Thinley Penjore, the spokesman for the National Front for
Democracy (NFD),an umbrella front of three exiled Bhutanese
political parties, sent a statement to King Jigme Khesar
Namgyel April 19 to urge him to include refugees in the
general election.

MEA Not Big Enough for Its Britches
--------------


11. (U) Recent press reports indicate that Foreign Secretary
Shiv Shankar Menon told a Parliamentary panel the GOI was
considering doubling the size of the MEA over the next five
years, including the Indian Foreign Service, which currently
has less than 700 people. "For every Indian diplomat, there
are four Brazilian diplomats; for every Indian diplomat,
there are seven Chinese diplomats. Now we might be wonderful
and very efficient, but we are not that efficient or that
good. It's really a problem...the strain is telling on us,"
said Menon, according to "The Times of India." India has
joined thirteen new multilateral organizations in the past
ten years and its overall budget has tripled, yet MEA's
personnel has shrunk from 4,866 to 4,746, according to "The
Hindu." Menon reportedly said the GOI was also planning to
increase its posts in the Gulf countries to handle visa and
consular affairs and better serve its 3 million-strong
diaspora in the region. A shuffling of responsibilities
within the MEA is coming down the pike as well, and the
protocol division may be facing outsourcing to the Indian
hospitality sector, according to press reports. If true, we
will miss the greasy, weak tea, Brittania biscuits, and stale
cashews.
PYATT