Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
08NEWDELHI431
2008-02-08 13:03:00
UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY
Embassy New Delhi
Cable title:  

DELHI DIARY, JAN 31 - FEB 8

Tags:  PREL PGOV PTER TBIO KDEM SOCI IN CH BT DA 
pdf how-to read a cable
VZCZCXRO3088
OO RUEHAST RUEHBI RUEHBZ RUEHCI RUEHCN RUEHDU RUEHGH RUEHGI RUEHJO
RUEHLH RUEHLN RUEHMA RUEHMR RUEHPA RUEHPOD RUEHPW RUEHRN RUEHTRO
RUEHVC RUEHVK RUEHYG
DE RUEHNE #0431/01 0391303
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 081303Z FEB 08
FM AMEMBASSY NEW DELHI
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 0365
INFO RUEHZO/AFRICAN UNION COLLECTIVE
RUCNCLS/ALL SOUTH AND CENTRAL ASIA COLLECTIVE
RUEHOO/CHINA POSTS COLLECTIVE
RUEHXD/MOSCOW POLITICAL COLLECTIVE
RUEHAK/AMEMBASSY ANKARA 1337
RUEHBJ/AMEMBASSY BEIJING 6764
RUEHEK/AMEMBASSY BISHKEK 0920
RUEHCV/AMEMBASSY CARACAS 0045
RUEHLM/AMEMBASSY COLOMBO 0607
RUEHCP/AMEMBASSY COPENHAGEN 0185
RUEHHE/AMEMBASSY HELSINKI 0153
RUEHLO/AMEMBASSY LONDON 4698
RUEHMO/AMEMBASSY MOSCOW 2553
RUEHNY/AMEMBASSY OSLO 0335
RUEHUL/AMEMBASSY SEOUL 1336
RUEHKO/AMEMBASSY TOKYO 5514
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHDC
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC
RUEIDN/DNI WASHINGTON DC
RHHMUNA/HQ USPACOM HONOLULU HI
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK 5993
RUEHGV/USMISSION GENEVA 7529
RUEKJCS/JOINT STAFF WASHDC
RUMICEA/USCENTCOM INTEL CEN MACDILL AFB FL
UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 05 NEW DELHI 000431 

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PREL PGOV PTER TBIO KDEM SOCI IN CH BT DA
KG, MV, NO, RS, TU, KN, CU, VE
SUBJECT: DELHI DIARY, JAN 31 - FEB 8

REF: NEW DELHI 264

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 05 NEW DELHI 000431

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PREL PGOV PTER TBIO KDEM SOCI IN CH BT DA
KG, MV, NO, RS, TU, KN, CU, VE
SUBJECT: DELHI DIARY, JAN 31 - FEB 8

REF: NEW DELHI 264


1. (U) Below is a compilation of political highlights from
Embassy New Delhi for January 31- February 8, 2008 that did
not feature in our other reporting:

-- India to host Summit of India-Africa Forum in April
-- Leaders Continue to Beat a Path to India's Door
-- Three UP MPs Disqualified, Telling By-elections to Follow
-- BJP Renews Battle Against Election Commissioner
-- Chavez to Address Indian Communist Parties?
-- Another Bomb Blast in Bhutan
-- Bhutan Prepares for Bird Flu Spread from West Bengal
-- Controversy Persuades Sania Mirza to Skip Bangalore Open

India to Host Summit of India-Africa Forum in April
--------------


2. (SBU) In a stepped-up effort to enhance India's ties with
African nations, Minister of State for External Affairs Anand
Sharma announced at the African Union Summit on January 29 in
Addis Ababa that the Government of India will host a Summit
of the India-Africa Forum. The Summit will take place in
Delhi in April with the Heads of State and Foreign Ministers
of South Africa, Nigeria, Libya, Algeria, Burkina Faso,
Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Ghana, Senegal,
Uganda and Zambia invited. The Summit of the India-Africa
Forum is part of India's strategy to diversify its
relationship and cooperation in Africa. Media sources report
that the summit is a response to China's bid to cement trade
ties and secure natural resources with its November 2006
Africa Summit attended by fifty countries at which China
pledged USD 5 billion in loans and credits. India's goal is
to compete with China for influence in Africa. It will seek
energy resources, gold, metallic ores and inorganic
chemicals. In addition to opening up markets for its cotton

yarn, drugs, machines, and agro-chemicals, India is keen on
implementing a pan-African e-network project that will
provide tele-medicine and tele-education to fifty-three
African nations.

Leaders Continue to Beat a Path to India's Door
--------------


3. (U) India is opening its doors this month to leaders from
around the world. Subsequent to the January visits of the
French president and the Greek and British prime ministers,
India will be receiving or has just recently hosted the
Maldives president, the Danish, Finnish, Russian and
Norwegian prime ministers, the Turkish and Kyrgyz foreign
ministers and the Canadian defense minister. Ali Babacan
becomes the first Turkish foreign minister to visit India in
30 years. The gist of the visits, based on what open sources
and brief conversations with colleagues from other embassies,
is the standard: greater bilateral cooperation on economic,
trade, defense and climate change issues. Comments made by
these visitors prior to coming to Delhi centered around
generic strengthening and developing economic and trade ties.


4. (SBU) Comment: The U.S. interest in these visits is
mostly indirect, but they exemplify the ever-increasing
competition for India's attention and for the Indian market.
Additionally, Denmark, Finland, Norway, Russia and Canada are
all Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) members, and the GOI will

NEW DELHI 00000431 002 OF 005


surely be asking them for support for the civil-nuclear deal
while they are here. Also, for India each one of these
countries is a potential vote in the UN General Assembly for
a rotating Security Council seat in 2010-2012, and a
permanent seat in the future.

Three UP MPs Disqualified, Telling By-elections to Follow
--------------


5. (U) On January 29 Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee
disqualified three Uttar Pradesh (UP) Bahujan Samaj Party
(BSP) MPs who had defected to the Samajwadi Party (SP). The
three MPs were elected in 2004 under the BSP banner but have
effectively been SP members for over a year, even campaigning
against the BSP in the 2007 Uttar Pradesh assembly elections.
Under a 1985 anti-defection law which sought to discourage
the increasingly common practice of legislators switching
parties for monetary or political payoffs, the BSP filed a
petition against the three MPs in December of 2006. The case
took over a year but eventually the BSP's position held.
Chatterjee's ruling vacates the seats and by-elections must
now be held within six months.


6. (SBU) Comment: Based on the statements and actions of the
MPs, all three had clearly left the BSP. Chatterjee's ruling
does not appear politically motivated; it would have been
extremely difficult for the Speaker to rule against the BSP
in such a clear cut case. The decision sets the stage for a
showdown between the BSP and the SP soon. The three former
MPs will likely stand as SP candidates in what will be not
only a referendum on one year of Mayawati rule, but also a
preview of upcoming national polls. While the contest looks
to be a hard-fought BSP vs. SP affair, Congress and the BJP
will likely use the opportunity to assess their own ties to
Mayawati and test their 2009 electoral messages in the most
crucial state of all. End Comment.

BJP Renews Battle Against Election Commissioner Navin Chawla
--------------


7. (SBU) On January 30, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)
petitioned Chief Election Commissioner N. Gopalaswami
demanding removal of his fellow Election Commissioner Navin
Chawla on grounds of Chawla's "close proximity" to the
Congress party and, hence, his lack of fairness and
non-partisanship. A former bureaucrat, Chawla is known for
his closeness to the Congress party's Nehru-Gandhi dynasty.
As Secretary to the Governor of Delhi during the emergency
years of 1975-77, Chawla is believed to have played a hand in
helping Sanjay Gandhi in many of his high-handed actions such
as the compulsory sterilizations and demolishment of
residential areas. Later, during the Indira Gandhi and Rajiv
Gandhi regimes, Chawla enjoyed patronage of Congress
ministers and always ended up with plum postings. He and his
wife run an NGO that has received donations from various
Congress parliamentarians.


8. (SBU) The genesis of BJP's campaign goes back to 2005
when Chawla was appointed an Election Commissioner by the
Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government.
The BJP petitioned then-President Abdul Kalam against
Chawla's appointment. That request was sent to the UPA
government for action. When the UPA government ignored it,
the BJP filed a petition in the Supreme Court in 2006

NEW DELHI 00000431 003 OF 005


demanding Chawla's removal. The Court suggested that the
Chief Election Commissioner has the authority to decide on
such matters. The current petition (signed by 180 National
Democratic Alliance members of parliament) is a result of the
Supreme Court ruling. The Indian Constitution allows the
removal of Election Commissioner by the President of India on
the recommendation of the Chief Election Commissioner.


9. (SBU) Comment: The BJP's campaign against Chawla is
rooted in the fear that he would become the Chief Election
Commissioner (CEC) later this year when Gopalaswami retires.
The CEC is unlikely to recommend Chawla's dismissal purely
since it would have to be proved that Chawla had taken biased
decisions as an Election Commissioner. However, the filing of
the petition gives BJP another issue to beat the Congress
party with as the country heads into what could turn out to
be closely fought elections before May 2009.

Chavez to Address Indian Communist Parties?
--------------


10. (SBU) Indian media reported on February 5 that both the
Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPI-M) and the smaller
Communist Party of India (CPI) invited Venezuelan President
Hugo Chavez to address their party Congress meetings. Noting
that Chavez's tirades against the United States have made him
very popular in Indian leftist circles, the story said that
Chavez would "add sting and color to the events which are set
to be dominated by anti-Americanism." The CPI-M Congress is
scheduled to be held in Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, from March 29
to April 3; the CPI Congress in Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh,
from March 23 to March 27. Delegates from communist parties
from China, Russia, North Korea, and Cuba routinely attend
these party meetings. Media and Kerala CPI-M contacts
confirmed to Consulate General Chennai that the parties had
invited Chavez but added that they did not think the
invitations were serious and that Chavez is very unlikely to
attend.

Another Bomb Blast in Bhutan
--------------


11. (SBU) On February 3, a bomb blast shook the southern
Bhutanese Samste district, which borders the Indian states of
Sikkim and West Bengal. No casualties were reported. One
bomb exploded behind a government building and police safely
defused two more near the residence of two election
officials. Though the police have not detained any suspects,
they found leaflets at the scene in which the Communist Party
of Bhutan threatened to stop National Assembly elections.


12. (SBU) This attack is the latest in a string of bombings
Bhutan has seen leading up to landmark National Assembly
elections on March 24. On January 20, four districts in
Bhutan, including the capital, Thimphu, were rocked by bomb
blasts (ref A). At that time, the Royal Bhutan Police
attributed the bombings to one of the three usual
Nepali-based suspects: the Communist party of Bhutan, the
Bhutan Maoist Party, and the Bhutan Tigers Force. However,
an unknown group, the United Revolutionary Front of Bhutan
(URFB),claimed responsibility. One Thimphu-based diplomat
told Poloff that Bhutanese officials from the Home Ministry
and Ministry of Foreign Affairs briefed third country
national officials in Thimphu on the attacks. Bhutanese

NEW DELHI 00000431 004 OF 005


officials said they heard the URFB took responsibility for
the attacks but the officials knew nothing more about the
group.


13. (SBU) The URFB again claimed responsibility for the
February 3 blast. In a statement distributed by the Press
Trust of India News Agency, a man named Karma, who claimed to
be the URFB Commander in Chief, asked India to side with the
Bhutanese people and not the King. He demanded the Election
Commission suspend polls until all national issues,
especially human rights, citizenship rights, political
rights, and the Bhutanese refugee problem in Nepal are
resolved. And, he threatened that the recent bombings are
only, "the beginning of our struggle against the regime and
it will continue until we achieve our goal."


14. (SBU) Comment: Very little is known about the URFB, but
it appears to be Nepali-based, and demands repatriation and
equal rights for ethnic Nepali Bhutanese refugees.
Regardless of who is responsible for the bombings, Bhutan is
seeing a rise in attacks. Bhutan will have to intensify its
vigilance on security matters in the coming weeks leading up
to the National Assembly election on March 24. End Comment.

Bhutan Prepares for Bird Flu Spread from West Bengal
--------------


15. (U) On February 2 the Bhutanese Government banned all
poultry imports from India, which is battling an Avian
Influenza (AI) outbreak in West Bengal. Since January 15, the
H5N1 virus has affected poultry in thirteen districts of West
Bengal. Two of these districts border Bhutan. Bhutan's major
poultry supplier is located in one of the 13 affected
districts. The Bhutanese Government has instituted preventive
measures against the bird flu including clinical
surveillance, cancellation of import licenses, poultry farmer
awareness and increased security at legal and illegal entry
points. The ban will remain in place until West Bengal is
officially AI-free.


16. (U) Comment: With bird flu spreading in the region,
Bhutan is joining other governments like the state of Assam
authorities in taking precautionary measures to respond to
the outbreak. Bhutan enacted the same preventive measures in
2007 due to an outbreak in Manipur. Bhutan only lifted the
poultry ban after the bird flu threat was completely
eliminated. The same course of action is expected this time.
End Comment.

Continued Controversy Persuades Sania Mirza to Skip Bangalore
Open
--------------


17. (SBU) Fed up with religious, legal and political
pressure, Muslim tennis star and Hyderabad-native Sania Mirza
will skip the Bangalore Open in March. Mirza, who is ranked
27th in the world and widely popular in most Indian circles,
has drawn continued criticism from conservatives while
competing. Islamic fundamentalists have pronounced her court
attire indecent and recently registered a trespassing case
against her in Hyderabad for an advertisement shoot in a
local mosque. In January, a private citizen filed a court
complaint in Bhopal under the Insult to National Honour Act
over her alleged (and trifling) disrespect for the Indian

NEW DELHI 00000431 005 OF 005


flag. "Every time I play in India there has been some kind
of problem," Mizra told the press.


18. (SBU) Comment: Although a symbol of national pride for
most Indians on and off the court, Mirza cannot escape
ridiculous controversy for wearing tennis clothes while
playing tennis. Fundamentalism appears to have won this
match and robbed Indians of watching their 21-year-old phenom
compete at home. On February 6, the tabloid newspaper "Mail
Today" (an India Today & Daily Mail (UK) partner) published a
full page incendiary photo of Mirza that is disgraceful even
by Hollywood standards. Media hype is adding fuel to the
fire. All legal cases are currently pending and any
conviction is extremely unlikely. The scorecard of
Conservative Islam vs. 21-year old Mirza's hemlines and
necklines currently stands at match point but many Indians
applaud her for standing up to the bullies.
MULFORD