ENGAGEMENT IN ASIA-PACIFIC: INDIAN RESPONSE TO

C O N F I D E N T I A L NEW DELHI 000101 SENSITIVE SIPDIS DEPT FOR SCA/INS, USDOC FOR ITA/MAC/OSA/LDROKER/ASTERN/KRUDD, DEPT PASS TO USTR MDELANEY/CLILIENFELD/AADLER, TREASURY FOR OFFICE OF SOUTH ASIA MNUGENT E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/15/2020 TAGS: PGOV PREL ECIN XC XE XU ASEAN APECO ARF IN SUBJECT: ENGAGEMENT IN ASIA-PACIFIC: INDIAN RESPONSE TO SECRETARY'S POLICY SPEECH REF: SECSTATE 04128 Classified By: Political Counselor Uzra Zeya for reasons 1.4 (B,D) Media Reaction -------------- ¶1. (C) Secretary Clinton's January 12 Asia-Pacific speech in Honolulu was reported in two leading Indian newspapers, THE HINDUSTAN TIMES and THE INDIAN EXPRESS. The reports, drawn from wire stories, focused on the Secretary's terming Asia as "indispensable" to meeting global security and humanitarian challenges and said the speech implied that the Obama administration views India, China and Japan to be the key players in the region. The reports highlighted the Secretary's remark: "It was no accident that the first state visit hosted by President and Mrs. Obama was for an Asian leader, Indian Prime Minister Singh." MEA Reaction -------------- ¶2. (C) The Indian Ministry of External Affairs has released no official reaction to the Secretary's speech at this time. The Americas Division and the East Asia Division desk officers declined to comment on the speech. Civil Society/ Business Sector Reaction -------------- ¶3. (C) Secretary Clinton's speech is still filtering down in New Delhi. Most of the trusted Delhi think tank and strategic community contacts whom we contacted had not yet digested the speech. A research assistant at the Institute for Peace and Conflict Studies (IPCS, a New Delhi based think tank),told us IPCS is following the "renewed interest" of the U.S. in Southeast Asia (SEA) as a balance to China's "strong influence" on the regional geopolitics of the area. He interpreted U.S. interest in the area as strategic and as driven by economic interest in emerging Free Trade Agreements and the region's ability to weather the financial crisis. Representatives from the American Chamber of Commerce in New Delhi and the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry were not available to comment. ROEMER