MEDIA REACTION: GATES VISIT TO INDIA, PAKISTAN

UNCLAS KATHMANDU 000081

SIPDIS

STATE FOR SCA/INS, PM/CBM, PM/PRO

STATE FOR SCA/PPD, PA/RRU

E.O. 12958 N/A
TAGS: KMDR, KPAO, PGOV, OPRC, NP
SUBJ: MEDIA REACTION: GATES VISIT TO INDIA, PAKISTAN

1. SUMMARY: Nepal's small English weekly People's
Review (circulation: 1,000) on Thursday, January 28,
ran an opinion piece "Gates visit to India,
Pakistan: On whose 'page' is U.S." written by
journalist MR Josse. Josse uses reporting in the
Indian media to analyze the recent visits by U.S.
Defense Secretary Robert Gates and President Obama's
special envoy for Afghanistan and Pakistan Richard
Holbrooke.

2. EXCERPTS: "...India-oriented media were upbeat
about the visit [of Robert Gates] which came on the
heels of that of President Obama's special envoy for
Afghanistan and Pakistan... Since contemporary
events in Pakistan and Afghanistan clearly fall
under 'regional matters' one is puzzled how the
Gates/Holbrooke visits can be viewed as not being
linked to 'regional matters.' It is, of course,
quite a different ball game that the official Indian
perception of how Washington should view/treat
Islamabad does not necessarily coincide with that of
the United States whose stakes in Afghanistan, as
the pre-eminent global power today, are bound to be
different from India's and other countries."

3. "Among the most absorbing Indian assessments of
the Gates' mission was that of B. Raman, a former
RAW official, writing for the South Asian Analysis
Group. To summarize his latest offering, Raman
argues that its main purpose was to affect a
'strategic course correction' of U.S.'s India
policy. The correction Raman refers to has reference
to former U.S. President George Bush's support for
'a multi-dimensional strategic relationship with
India.' That, among other things, included 'an
important role for India as a respected interlocutor
of the U.S. in assessing the implications of China's
rise as a modern military power."

4. "Thus, apart from China not anymore figuring as
'a driving force' of the Indo-U.S. relationship,
Raman believes 'Pakistan-centric issues received a
disproportionately large attention as compared to
the past.' In view of the above, it is difficult to
argue that India and the U.S. are on the 'same page'
in every respect. It is equally hard to deny that
the Obama administration's approach to India is
vastly different from that of the Bush
administration."

ORDWAY