PM SINGH TELLS CODEL KERRY RE PAKISTAN: ENOUGH IS

S E C R E T SECTION 01 OF 04 NEW DELHI 003165

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/15/2018
TAGS: PREL PTER SENV AF PK IN
SUBJECT: PM SINGH TELLS CODEL KERRY RE PAKISTAN: ENOUGH IS
ENOUGH

REF: NEW DELHI AND PREVIOUS

Classified By: Ambassador David C. Mulford. Reasons: 1.4(B, D).


1. (C) Summary: Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh told
Senator Kerry in a December 15 meeting that India had
exercised tremendous restraint in responding to the Mumbai
terror attacks but that India had reached its limit. He
called on the U.S. to make clear to Pakistan that it must
take serious steps to address India's concerns by bringing
those involved in the Mumbai attacks to justice, implementing
UN terror sanctions and dismantling the terrorist
infrastructure. Singh was dismissive of Pakistan's detention
of some extremists; India had seen similar ineffectual moves
by Pakistan to rein in terrorists after the 2001 attack on
the Indian Parliament. Senator Kerry clarified that
President-elect Obama's idea of a special envoy to the region
was primarily directed at Pakistan, Afghanistan and
terrorism. On Afghanistan, Singh said the international
community needs to strengthen the Afghan National Army, step
up pressure on Pakistan to deny any sanctuary on the
Pakistan-Afghan border to militant groups, and provide more
development assistance. Senator Kerry urged that India take
steps to support a strong outcome at the Copenhagen Climate
Change Conference next year. End Summary.

After the Mumbai Attacks: We're on the Same Side
-------------- --------------


2. (C) Incoming Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman
John Kerry, accompanied by the Ambassador, met December 15
with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who was joined by
National Security Advisor M.K. Narayanan and Foreign
Secretary Shivshankar Menon. Senator Kerry expressed his
condolences for the loss India suffered in Mumbai, calling
the attacks an outrage. He said the U.S. knew well the
damages that such an attack can cause and the need to battle
terrorism. PM Singh thanked the Senator and the U.S.
government for its support, noted his conversations with the
President and warmly welcomed congressional resolutions which
condemned the Mumbai attacks.


3. (C) PM Singh said it was clear that the U.S. and India
were on the same side in this fight. In his view, Pakistan
had become the "epicenter" of terrorism, noting that UK Prime
Minister Gordon Brown had told him in a December 14 meeting
that 75 percent of the terrorism cases the UK had dealt with
had Pakistani connections. Singh said that the manner in
which the international community dealt with Pakistan's role
in terror would be critical in determining the future of the
region.

Singh: Tell the GOP We Have Reached Our Limit
-------------- -


4. (S) PM Singh said there was credible intelligence that
that Lashkar-e-Tayiba (LeT) plans to launch other terrorist
attacks in India. He sought the help of the U.S. and others
in the international community to make clear to Pakistan that
"enough was enough." He asked Senator Kerry to impress on
the Pakistanis when he met with the leadership this evening
that India had reached "the limit" and could go no further.
India had exercised tremendous restraint in the face of
enormous provocation, but Singh said that there was
unprecedented anger on the part of the Indian public.
Senator Kerry stressed his appreciation for the restraint
that India had shown and said he understood the pressure
Singh was under to respond.

Kerry: What Should Pakistan Do?
--------------


5. (C) Responding to Senator Kerry's query about what
Pakistan could do to respond to India's demands, PM Singh

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said that Pakistan must bring the perpetrators of the Mumbai
attacks to justice. Noting Islamabad's demands for proof of
the involvement of Pakistan-based elements in the attack,
Singh said that India was willing to provide some information
to Pakistan as India's investigation developed. He stressed
that the joint Anti-Terror Mechanism established in 2006 had
been ineffective because Pakistan had ignored India's
submissions about prior terrorist attacks. There was a huge
dichotomy between what Islamabad said and did on fighting
terrorism. Singh said India supported Pakistan's democratic
development, but the civilian government could not enforce
its writ, and the focus must be on what the GOP military and
the ISI in particular were doing. If there was no "control
at the source," then India would be fighting a losing battle.
Failure to resolve the terror nexus would lead to the
"Talibanization" of both Afghanistan and Pakistan in 10
years.


6. (C) Senator Kerry cited conditions on USG assistance to
Pakistan that include provisions relating to Pakistan's
efforts in the Federally Administered Territorial Areas and
controls on ISI. Singh touched on IMF assistance to
Pakistan, noting that while India had supported this package
to ensure its neighbor's economic stability, the Pakistani
government should not be immune from political pressure to
fulfill its obligations to control terror. Singh was
dismissive of the home detentions of Pakistani extremists and
had discounted Pakistan's intention to send a delegation to
India, stating that Indian public opinion would not tolerate
such a visit. Evidence would be developed by India as part
of its criminal investigation and a decision would be made at
the appropriate time about what could be shared with
Pakistan. He suggested to Senator Kerry that Pakistan should
be pressed "to honestly implement" the UN sanctions, close
down the camps, and dismantle the terror groups. If the U.S.
were satisfied that Pakistan was doing this, that judgment
would weigh heavily with India, but New Delhi had seen such
moves in the past which had only been temporary.
Kashmir
--------------


7. (S) After noting that Jammu and Kashmir had held another
round of voting for its state assembly with impressive
turnouts, PM Singh stressed that his government had been
committed for the past four and half years to improving the
relationship with Pakistan. Looking back, he said that India
had been ready to resolve its differences with Pakistan
through "purposeful dialogue," and that this had included
Kashmir. Singh did not intend to redraw the boundaries in
Kashmir, but to make these boundaries irrelevant by opening
up the border to trade and improved communications. A back
channel to Pakistan on Kashmir had allowed for intensive
dialogue, but this had come to a halt in 2007 when President
Musharraf faced mounting political problems. Now, Singh
stressed, India's goal must be that Pakistan gives up the use
of terrorism as an instrument of foreign policy.

Regional Envoy: Clearing Up a Misimpression
--------------


8. (C) Senator Kerry clarified comments then-Senator Obama
had made during the U.S. presidential campaign regarding the
appointment of a special envoy for the region. Senator Kerry
said that based on his conversations with the
President-elect, there is no intention of creating an envoy
for Kashmir. The envoy would focus on Pakistan, Afghanistan
and terrorism. Singh said he had concerns about a "regional
approach" if that entailed "re-hyphenating" the U.S. approach
to India and Pakistan. He underlined the effectiveness of
U.S. policy these past four and one half years because the
U.S. had strictly followed a policy of not seeking to manage
or adjudicate Indo-Pakistani relations. For India, that
would be "not acceptable." Senator Kerry reiterated that if
there were such a position, the Envoy would not focus on the

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Indo-Pakistan dispute, but noted that India too had a large
interest in the issue of Pakistan, Afghanistan and terrorism.

Afghanistan: Stay the Course
--------------


9. (C) PM Singh blamed the security problems in Afghanistan
on the ability of the Taliban and other extremists to shelter
in the border regions between Pakistan and Afghanistan,
noting that the Pakistani military had been responsible in
the first place for creating and supporting the Taliban and
other Islamist armed groups. The problem of the Taliban
being on both sides of the traditional border was especially
severe for U.S. convoys at the moment and was a situation
that India believes can be addressed by Pakistan under U.S.
pressure. In response to Senator Kerry's request for an
assessment of the situation in Afghanistan, Singh said the
U.S. and its partners must recognize that they are in
Afghanistan for the long haul and that if the U.S. did not
persevere, Islamist groups would be even further emboldened.
He laid out three goals for the international community in
Afghanistan: strengthen the Afghan National Army, step up
pressure on Pakistan to deny any sanctuary in FATA for
militant groups, and provide more development assistance
applied more intensively. Singh slammed Pakistan's military
efforts in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA),
observing that the Pakistani military establishment was of
two minds about aggressively pursuing militants there and
arguing that until the Pakistan military had made this
commitment, the U.S. would be "fighting a losing battle" in
Afghanistan.


10. (C) PM Singh reviewed India's contributions to Afghan
reconstruction -- construction of roads, dams, power plants
and transmission lines and education and health projects that
together amounted to USD 1.2 billion in assistance since

2001. India was committed to providing assistance for Afghan
reconstruction despite violence like the July bombing of its
Kabul Embassy. India could do more, but the difficult
security environment imposed limits. He also addressed
Afghanistan's governance problems, stating that he had
pressed President Karzai to avoid isolating the Northern
Alliance and to manage better relations among all of
Afghanistan's ethnic and tribal groups. In his view,
building democracy in Afghanistan would be a very long, drawn
out process.

Climate Change
--------------


11. (C) Senator Kerry noted he had just participated in the
Poznan Climate Change Conference and said President-elect
Obama intended to demonstrate U.S. leadership on this issue.
Kerry noted that a broad global effort would be needed to
produce results at the Copenhagen Climate Change Conference
next year. According to the latest scientific analysis the
Senator had received, even if all existing commitments were
fulfilled, the world would still see a catastrophic
temperature rise of 3.5 degrees Celsius by 2050. The G-77
(including India) plus China had remained outside Annex 1 of
the Kyoto Protocol, but Senator Kerry hoped that India would
join in efforts to control climate change on a more
accelerated basis. The Senator said he would likely return to
India in February to participate in a climate change
conference hosted by Intergovernmental Panel on Climate
Change Chair Rajendra Pachauri.


12. (C) PM Singh said India hopes for success in Copenhagen
based on global participation and was willing to work with
others. He pointed out that India on a per capita basis had
one sixth of Chinese emissions and that he had pledged at
this year's G-8 meetings that Indian emissions would never
exceed on a per capita basis the recent average of emissions
by developed countries. India was committed to sustainable

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development but said that efforts to limit climate change
must not be used as an instrument to continue poverty. India
was willing to seek help from developed countries that could
demonstrate how to reconcile efforts to prevent environmental
damage with strong economic growth.


13. (U) Codel Kerry did not clear this message.
MULFORD