MEDIA REACTION: WAR AGAINST TERRORISM,

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 NEW DELHI 002569 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: WAR AGAINST TERRORISM, COPENHAGEN, PAKISTAN; NEW DELHI. 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. -------------- WAR AGAINST TERRORISM -------------- ¶1. "AL QAEDA'S PLOT FOILED," editorial in December 28 left-of-center Marathi daily, APLA MAHANAGAR: "The Al Qaeda attempt to blow up a U.S.-bound jet on Christmas Day once again brings home the need for a review of the databases used by U.S. security agencies. If a man, who tried to blow up a jet from Amsterdam with 290 people on board, could not be apprehended much in advance, the U.S. should safely conclude that their anti-terror initiatives need a major push. Fresh questions over air security have also been raised..." -------------- COPENHAGEN -------------- ¶2. "COPENHAGEN'S TRAGEDY," op-ed article by columnist Dr Parag Mankikar in December 28 centrist Marathi daily, SAKAAL: The real tragedy of the summit is that the common peoples' woes were hardly discussed, certainly not the ones faced by poor people of the developing and underdeveloped world. The summit saw an unfortunate division between the developed nations and the rest of the world. The developed nations showed no readiness to cut down their carbon emissions which have troubled the planet for so long." ¶3. "NEED OF THE HOUR -- GREEN PARTNERSHIP," op-ed in December 27 right-of-center Hindi daily, DAINIK JAGRAN by strategic analyst K. Subrahmanyam: "The challenge of climate change needs to be met with new technologies. This calls for a partnership between the developed and emerging economies, but this issue was sidelined amidst the tussle in Copenhagen.... A green industrial revolution is the need of the hour, in which the U.S. has the opportunity to make India an international workhouse. India should also use this opportunity to encourage international investors. We need to change our mentality and understand that the top greenhouse gas emitter is not the U.S., but India. India should see climate change as an issue of common concern, rather than a subject of conflict." -------------- PAKISTAN -------------- ¶4. "PAKISTAN IN TERROR," op-ed in December 26 right-of- center Hindi daily, DAINIK JAGRAN: "I have been visiting Lahore for over a decade, but this time I saw a shroud of terror over the city, with the hardliners and the Taliban gradually taking over. The terrorists once created by Pakistan's army and intelligence agency NEW DELHI 00002569 002 OF 002 are now attacking them... Pakistan's fate hangs in balance. Either the army will eliminate terrorists, or the Taliban will take over Pakistan. If the latter happens, then U.S. troops will move into Pakistan, as America will never allow Pakistan's nukes to fall into wrong hands." ROEMER