India Reporting Workshop Puts Strategic Dialogue in

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 NEW DELHI 002265

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: ECON POL AMGT IN
SUBJECT: India Reporting Workshop Puts Strategic Dialogue in
Context

Summary
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1. (SBU) The Ambassador enthusiastically welcomed more than 80
participants from throughout India and neighboring Bangladesh,
Nepal, Pakistan and China to an October 5-6 India Reporting Workshop
in New Delhi. SCA Assistant Secretary (A/S) Blake, addressing the
group via DVC, underscored the value to Washington policymakers of
timely, insightful and succinct reporting from the field. During
the ensuing group consultations, panels and facilitated discussions,
officers and locally-employed staff (LES) explored in greater depth
the multifaceted U.S. - India Strategic Dialogue and its regional
implications, strategies for maximizing the effectiveness of
reporting, the relationship between officers and LES, and overall
career management. An expert panel examined parallels between China
and India as emerging global actors. Embassy New Delhi officers
also provided specialized briefings to workshop participants on
climate change and energy; counterterrorism; agriculture and food
security; and trafficking, human rights and religious freedom. .
End Summary.

Ambassador and Assistant Secretary Set the Tone
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2. (SBU) In his welcoming remarks to the Workshop participants, the
Ambassador spoke passionately of his experience traveling and
working in Asia and its formative impact upon his thinking about
U.S. policy. He recounted being encouraged by then House Speaker
Tip O'Neil to seize opportunities to "get out and travel" to broaden
his grasp of the international context of U.S. policymaking. This
message was reiterated by A/S Blake. In his characterization of the
complex range of issues with which the USG is engaged with India, he
noted that the bilateral relationship was tied inextricably to
relations with China, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Nepal, Bangladesh, Sri
Lanka and Central Asia. A/S Blake urged reporting officers to "get
out a lot" in order to develop contacts. From these, he noted, one
gleans the insights that can help Washington policymakers more
effectively filter massive information flows. A/S Blake emphasized
the importance both of succinct, crisp reporting that helps
Washington make time-sensitive, informed decisions as well as
analytical reports that help the intelligence community frame an
understanding of longer-term trends. He said he personally read at
least the subject line and summary of every cable from SCA posts
every day.

Strategic Overview
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3. (SBU) Economic, Environment Science and Technology (EEST) and
Political Minister Counselors (M/Cs) opened the full-day session
with a discussion of the U.S.-India Strategic Dialogue and
overarching regional issues. POL M/C said we had reached a critical
point in the bilateral relationship with new administrations in both
countries. India's new United Progressive Alliance-led government
is keen to meet its domestic policy imperatives and deliver tangible
benefits for Indians while at the same time taking on a more
significant role on the world stage. For its part, while the Obama
Administration has sought to build on prior successes in our
strategic partnership with India, it is giving greater emphasis to
moving from dialogue to concrete actions in 18 specific areas
comprising five pillars of engagement. The pillars include:
Strategic Cooperation; Energy and Climate Change; Education and
Development; Economics, Trade and Agriculture: and Science and
Technology, Health and Innovation.


4. (SBU) Lively discussion of the Strategic Dialogue was encouraged
when the EEST M/C asked a provocative series of questions: As the
oldest and largest democracies, do India and the United States
really share common values? What role will/should India assume in
the years to come? What tangible outcomes can enhanced bilateral
engagement realistically expect to generate and how? Responses from
both LES and officers acknowledged that there was much to be done to
overcome stove-pipes and roadblocks, but noted that demonstrable
successes could be achieved with certain interlocutors and
institutions, and that these exemplars need to be highlighted and
leveraged. Some noted that at the same time as it was important to
underscore far-reaching mutual interests, resources must be
channeled toward collaboration in areas of mutual interest. One
USAID representative, for example, spoke of the importance of public
and private partnership agreements, which have helped to shift the
proportion of funds reaching India 4:1 in favor of foreign direct
investment rather than development assistance. Similarly, in trade,
science, and technology engagement, there is an increasingly
pragmatic focus on identifying where partnering with the private
sector can advance shared business and development priorities.

India and China
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5. (SBU) A panel discussion with Professor Alka Acharya of

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Jawaharlal Nehru University and Peter Wonicott of the Wall Street
Journal focused on the divergent paths that China and India have
taken toward development and toward their neighbors. Mr. Wonicott
stressed the profoundly different means by which each country has
pursued economic, political and military power - each dimension
reflecting China's centralized decisiveness and India's fragmented
inclusiveness. Professor Acharya, on the other hand, spoke of the
lens of competition and rivalry through which India tends to view
China as a threat. In the discussion that ensued, workshop
participants attending from Embassy Beijing said China views its
relative success in reducing poverty and its growing trade surplus
with India as proof of the superiority of the state-led growth
model, whereas Indian press reporting of a Chinese threat is viewed
as only an inflammatory confirmation.

Reporting with Results
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6. (SBU) Economic and Political Deputy Section Heads, reporting
officers from Chennai and Kolkata, and the India Desk Officer
attending from Washington contributed to a panel discussion on how
to maximizing the effectiveness of reporting. Some panelists
reiterated suggestions made by A/S Blake: to provide context, target
messages to readers, and get out of the office to get to know
contacts. Others encouraged the synchronization of reporting,
representation, and travel plans to align with larger mission
priorities, as well as coordination of reporting between sections to
avoid stove-pipping and missing critical cross-cutting issues.
Participants discussed using share-point, web-based and other new
communications tools to more effectively exchange information, but
acknowledged that the traditional cable remained important, even if
sometimes it is best to email it as well as an attachment to key
readers.

Career Management
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7. (SBU) LES and officers met in separate groups to exchange ideas
about career management. Specialists from New Delhi, Chennai and
Mumbai facilitated the LES panel discussion, while the officers'
panel was led by representatives from Human Resources as well as
Political and Economic Sections. LES personnel focused on perennial
concerns over having flat career trajectories and explored
strategies for building growth and professional development
opportunities into the career. Officers' discussion focused largely
on the mechanics of evaluations and the functioning of promotion
panels. In a combined session, a senior LES offered suggestions to
officers, including: that officers communicate frequently with LESs,
recognize their contributions, attend to their training and
technology needs, and engage them fully in substantive work and
visits.

Conclusion
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8. (SBU) The DCM, along with the workshop hosts, summarized the key
takeaways from the meetings. On the full range of issues, involving
both our bilateral dialogue as well as regional neighbors, we are
moving from a period of dialogue to one of action. Workshop
participants were urged to stay focused on critical mission
priorities, while working to build trust with their Indian
counterparts. In the process, reporting will continue to matter, as
posts synchronize efforts with Washington and seek to build
interagency collaboration.


ROEMER