MEDIA REACTION: INDIA-PAKISTAN RELATIONS, WAR

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 NEW DELHI 000012 SIPDIS STATE FOR NP, AC, PM STATE FOR INR/MR STATE FOR SCA/INS, PM/CBM, PM/PRO STATE FOR SCA/PPD, PA/RRU STATE FOR AID/APRE-A USDOC FOR 4530/IEP/ANESA/OSA FOR BILL MURPHY E.O. 12958:N/A TAGS: KMDR KPAO PGOV PREL IN SUBJECT: MEDIA REACTION: INDIA-PAKISTAN RELATIONS, WAR AGAINST TERRORISM, MIDDLE EAST CRISIS; NEW DELHI-JANUARY 3-5, 2008. This countrywide cable reports on relevant media reaction/opinion from India's large non-English press. The Mission reports on English-language media via email through the daily "Early Edition" summary. -------------- INDIA-PAKISTAN RELATIONS -------------- ¶1. "PAKISTAN IN DEEP CRISIS," op-ed article in January 4 DAINIK JAGRAN Hindi daily by strategic affairs specialist ¶K. Subrahmanyam: "The only contribution of Pakistan in the war against terror is that it is the origin of terrorism, safe haven for Al-Qaida and the hub of the Pakistani and Afghan Taliban. The U.S. has been struggling in Afghanistan for a long time and working on a new strategy. And Pakistan is trying to increase tension by provoking India. It is deploying its army on the India-Pakistan border, creating war hysteria. Actually, it does not want to fight against the Taliban. The message is clear from the regular attacks on supplies to U.S. troops in Afghanistan: the U.S. should not expect cooperation from Pakistan in the proposed Afghanistan policy. But pressure is mounting on Pakistan to act tough against terrorists. It will either have to help the U.S. in the fight against the Taliban, or sacrifice U.S. economic aid, which it badly needs. If the Pakistani Generals will not stop using jihad as a political tool, Pakistan's clash with the U.S. and Europe is certain." ¶2. "AGAINST TERRORISM," editorial in January 2 AMAR UJALA Hindi daily: "Only India's internal preparation will help it to deal with terrorism. The National Investigative Agency's coming into existence is an important step in this direction. It would be a big mistake to expect cooperation from Pakistan. Under the present circumstances, Pakistan's government cannot act against terrorists. It actually has no power. Thus we have no option but to tighten our internal and external security. Now that the U.S. and U.K. have given solid proofs that the Mumbai assaults were masterminded and controlled from Pakistani territory, the Pakistan government is exposed. There is speculation that the FBI even has information on the involvement of some in the Pakistani administration. Thus, this is Pakistan's destiny: that it cannot do anything because its army, intelligence, radical leaders and everybody over there have been busy producing terrorism. The Pakistan government should itself act against such elements or else the external forces will do so." -------------- WAR AGAINST TERRORISM -------------- ¶3. "AMERICA'S CONVENIENT WAR AGAINST TERRORISM" editorial in the January 5, 2009, Mumbai edition of right-of-center Marathi daily SAAMNA. "FBI officials have landed in Islamabad to unearth the conspiracy behind the 26/11 terror attacks on Mumbai. These officials have also NEW DELHI 00000012 002 OF 003 interrogated residents of the village from where Ajmal Kasab (the lone arrested terrorist in Mumbai) hails. One hardly knows anything about the nature and findings of this investigation conducted by the self-declared global policemen. The U.S.-led war against terrorism is anyway quite a mirage. More than serving the global interests, this war serves the U.S. interests. The U.S. has taken the lead in this war only because it has been affected by Islamic terror and fears further onslaughts..." Similar editorial appeared in the Marathi daily VRITTAMANAS. -------------- MIDDLE EAST CRISIS -------------- ¶4. "ISRAEL'S EXTREMISM AND PEACE HAMMERING," opinion article in January 2 RASHTRIYA SAHARA Hindi daily by international affairs analyst Vedpratap Vedik: "The Palestine-Israel struggle is no less than a war. The UN Security Council's call for a ceasefire is ineffective. Israel, in the name of uprooting Hamas, will make 1.5 million Palestinians refugees in their own country. After all, why has Israel become so uncontainable? The Hamas and Fatah factions are more responsible than anyone else for the suffering and misery that has engulfed West Asia. The U.S. should have encouraged Hamas when it agreed to opt for democracy, but it provoked Hamas against Fatah and now it is supporting Israel against Hamas. Israel may be taking this extremist step because Barack Obama gave some indications of softness in his election campaign. Perhaps it wants to wipe out Hamas before Obama becomes President. Israeli premier Ehud Olmert could win the next elections with this extremism, but it will hammer the peace in the west Asia." ¶5. "NEED TO LEARN SOME LESSONS FROM ISRAEL!" editorial in the January 3, 2009, Mumbai-based centrist Gujarati daily evening newspaper JANMABHOOMI. "For the international community to live in peace it is imperative to crush the menace of terrorism from its roots. It would not be an exaggeration to say that all the hubs of terrorism are in Muslim nations, be it Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iraq or Palestine. America succeeded in ousting Saddam Hussein in Iraq and flushing out the Taliban from Afghanistan. However, terrorist organizations in Pakistan and the Hamas in Palestine continue to spew the venom of terrorism. The need of the hour for India is to take some lessons from Israel. India also needs to imitate the Israeli example and dismantle terrorist infrastructure across the Indian border. Mere talks for dialogue and peace with those who understand the language of force won't yield any results." ¶6. "SEVERE HUMAN TRAGEDY IN MIDDLE EAST: LASTING PEACE IMPOSSIBLE" editorial in the January 4, 2009 in the centrist Gujarati daily GUJARATMITRA. "The present day conflict in the Middle East has snowballed into a severe crisis resulting in the loss of more than 400 lives and NEW DELHI 00000012 003 OF 003 injuring almost 2000 people. The Israeli action comes in the wake of the violation of ceasefire by the radical group Hamas. It is worth noting here that even a group of Arab nations are in favor of decimation of Hamas at the hands of Israel as they believe that terrorism perpetrated by Hamas is a major hindrance to a peaceful solution of the Israel-Palestine conflict. Even the U.S. has its own strategic interests in this region. Although America too intends peace in the Middle East and is also making all out efforts in this direction, it would certainly not wish a weakened Israel against an aggressive Palestine. Considering all this, there appear no signs of the present conflict between Palestinians and Jews ending amicably." MULFORD