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 NEW DELHI 00003165 002 OF 004 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 NEW DELHI 00003165 003 OF 004 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 NEW DELHI 00003165 004 OF 004 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