FIERCE INDIAN REACTION TO MILIBAND'S KASHMIR

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 NEW DELHI 000118

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/20/2019
TAGS: PGOV PREL PTER PK UK IN
SUBJECT: FIERCE INDIAN REACTION TO MILIBAND'S KASHMIR
COMMENTS

Classified By: POLCOUNS Ted Osius for Reasons 1.4 (B, D)


1. (C) Summary: British Foreign Secretary Miliband's visit to
India January 14-16 was a public relations disaster after his
comments linking the Mumbai attacks to the Kashmir conflict
made headlines. Miliband was widely criticized by the media
and was the victim of pointed remarks by Indian officials.
The MEA took the unusual steps of blasting him while he was
still in-country and then skewering him on his "immaturity"
on background. Given the fierce Indian reaction to his
visit, we doubt Miliband will be welcome back to India
anytime soon. End Summary.


2. (C) Comment: It is not clear whether Miliband's public
comments on Kashmir were deliberately designed to provoke the
Indian government or were an unintentional result of poor
staffing. In any event, they were universally condemned by
Indians of all political persuasions. The fierce Indian
reaction serves as a reminder of the Indian sensitivity to
any international interference in Kashmir. They also
demonstrate that public statements on Kashmir by the
international community, however well-intentioned, can be
counterproductive. End Comment.

Breaking an Indian Taboo: Interfering in Kashmir
-------------- --------------


3. (C) British Foreign Secretary David Miliband visited India
January 14-16, meeting with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh,
Foreign Minister Pranab Mukherjee, National Security Advisor
M.K. Narayanan, Home Minister P. Chidambaram, and senior
opposition leader L.K. Advani. Miliband also visited Mumbai
where he gave a speech on counterterrorism at the Taj Mahal
Hotel. He traveled to rural Amethi with Rahul Gandhi where
he spent the night in an impoverished woman's home in an
effort to gain better insight into the social and economic
challenges existing in most parts of India.


4. (C) However, Miliband's trip will be remembered primarily
for stirring the hornet's nest on the issue of Kashmir, as
both his private and public comments suggested India needed
to resolve the conflict. According to British High Commission
PolOff Victoria Whitford, Miliband had tried to raise
Afghanistan and Kashmir issues during separate meetings,
identifying them as issues that needed to be tackled and that
if resolved, would be steps toward a more effective peace
process. In an interview with The Guardian newspaper on
January 15, Miliband was quoted as saying "resolution of the
dispute over Kashmir would help deny extremists in the region
one of their main calls to arms, and allow Pakistani
authorities to focus more effectively on tackling the threat
on their western borders."

Officials, Media, Pounce on Miliband
--------------


5. (C) His comments were blasted by Indian officials and the
media. According to Whitford, PM Singh responded that
"bringing Kashmir into this would be regarded as an
unfriendly act". A day after Miliband's comments, Ministry
of External Affairs (MEA) Spokesperson issued a strong
statement: "Mr. Miliband is entitled to his views, which are
clearly his own and are evolving. India is a free country
and, even if we do not share his views, he is free to express
them. However, we do not need unsolicited advice on internal
issues in India like Jammu and Kashmir."


6. (SBU) The MEA spokesman's comments were mild compared to
the personal attacks that followed by GOI officials speaking
on background to the major Indian dailies. The Hindu
reported that senior Indian officials attacked Miliband for
the "aggressive" manner with which he conducted himself
during meetings with Mukherjee and Singh, in addition to his
having drawn a link between the Mumbai attacks and Kashmir.
One official commented that "he is a young man and I guess
this is the way he thinks diplomacy is conducted." The
Indian Express on 18 January characterized Miliband as being

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"ignorant of diplomatese", criticizing him for putting his
hands on Mukherjee's shoulders as they walked together, and
quoting another source as having said "The British Foreign
Secretary is in his 40s, looks like he is in his 30s, and
behaves as if he is in his 20s."


7. (U) On 20 January, one of India's most widely circulated
dailies, The Hindu, published an editorial which said
Miliband's visit was an "ill-conceived foray" and criticized
his having linked the Mumbai attacks with the Kashmir
conflict, saying "such ham-handedness plays into the hands of
those who are in denial and rationalize violent extremism by
finding 'just' causes for it," while another op-ed in The
Asian Age said that "such appeasement of terrorism is
startling." The Pioneer accused Miliband of "domestic
grandstanding and ideological posturing," and most Indian
newspapers quoted officials as criticizing Miliband's
"aggressive" and "immature" attitude during his meetings.


8. (U) Jammu & Kashmir Chief, Omar Abdullah, with whom
Miliband met during his visit to India, said he disagreed
with Miliband's statement: "Kashmir is not the only irritant
to India-Pakistan relations, there are several other areas of
disagreement," said Abdullah, according to Times of India
newspaper.

Political Parties Jump on Miliband
--------------


9. (SBU) The ruling Congress Party spokesman, according to
AFP, reacted to Miliband's comments by saying "there is no
linkage between Kashmir and the terror India has been facing
emanating from Pakistan," and then more directly attacked
Miliband when he said "the bureaucracy in the British foreign
office should have educated him a little bit on the facts".
The main opposition Bharatiya Janata Party described the
visit as a "diplomatic disaster".

A Visit Overshadowed
--------------


10. (C) Due to all the attention on Miliband's Kashmir
comments, some of the other items on his agenda were given
much less attention than anticipated. Miliband made a visit
to Amethi for what should have been a wonderful photo op of
him in India's heartland, only to have awkward photos of him
in a mud hut side by side with headlines criticizing his
Kashmir comments. Other events, such as his speech at the
Taj Mahal Hotel in Mumbai on 14 January during which he
focused on counter-terrorism, received relatively little play
in comparison to the Kashmir remarks. (Note: More details on
the Mumbai portion of Miliband's visit reported septel.) The
atmosphere for Miliband's visit was so clouded by Kashmir
that otherwise innocuous comments on Britain's friendship
with Pakistan and Iran's nuclear program drew surprisingly
harsh criticism.
WHITE