This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.

061226Z Dec 04

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 NEW DELHI 007703 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/07/2014 
TAGS: PREL IN PK INDO PAK
SUBJECT: INDO-PAK TRACK II EXCHANGES STRONG, MARRED ONLY BY DISAGREEMENT ON KASHMIR  


Classified By: PolCouns Geoffrey Pyatt, Reasons 1.4 (B,D). 
 
¶1.  (C) Summary: As India and Pakistan move into Round II of  their Composite Dialogue (CD), people-to-people exchanges  continue at an accelerating pace, building goodwill,  expanding non-official ties, and keeping up a positive  atmosphere for formal talks.  The recent visit by Pakistani  Punjab Chief Minister Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi to inaugurate  the first-ever Punjab Games generated enormous good feeling,  according to the Pakistani DCM, although Elahi possibly  linked normalization of trade to progress on Kashmir.  During  a December 2-7 visit to Delhi by retired senior Pakistani  military officers organized by the India-Pakistan Soldiers'  Initiative for Peace, participants from both sides agreed to  use their influence to further rapprochement.  Track II  activists are slowly becoming conscious of the soft power  they wield, and are eager to build support for the official  dialogue.  Kashmir remains the dark cloud over these  people-to-people exchanges.  End Summary. 
  Progress in Punjab 
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¶2.  (C) Punjab, the one Indian state where anti-Pakistan  sentiments have traditionally been the most intense, recently  witnessed unusual cross-border interaction, including the  most important visit by a Pakistani Punjabi politician in  memory.  Pakistani High Deputy Commissioner Munawar Saeed  (protect) told Polcouns on December 3 that Chief Minister  Elahi had an unprecedented reception from the moment he  arrived in Amritsar, commenting ""I've never seen anything  like it.""  He said the mood in Chandigarh was also very  positive -- ""nearly euphoric"" -- an assessment echoed in the  Indian press.  Elahi's later comment that trade between the  two Punjabs will not take off until core issues such as  Kashmir were resolved doused enthusiasm somewhat.  Even so,  Elahi predicted that overall relations would improve, adding  that PM Manmohan Singh's anticipated visit to Pakistan in  2005 to go a long way in this effort. 
 
¶3.  (SBU) Continuing the successful series of Indo-Pak  sporting events, particularly cricket and hockey, the  first-ever Punjab Games (December 5-10) united more than 750  athletes from the two countries.  Traditional Punjabi sports 
-- wrestling, field hockey and kabaddi (a team sport  combining elements of rugby, wrestling and tag) -- and  Olympic sports such as basketball, cycling, and marksmanship  are on the program.  Although over 100 of the Pakistani  athletes submitted their visa applications late, Indian  immigration officials garnered goodwill by allowing them  special entry through the Wagah border after its scheduled  closing.  The Games are to be an annual event, with Lahore  hosting in 2005. 
  Old Soldiers Never Die -- They Join Track II Groups 
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¶4.  (SBU) Another recent Track II event passed with less  fanfare, but was reflective of broadening dialogue between  the two countries.  Seventeen retired senior Pakistani  military officers -- including lieutenant generals, admirals,  and an air marshal -- were in India December 2-7 for meetings  with Indian counterparts under the auspices of the  India-Pakistan Soldier's Initiative for Peace.  At a  closed-door roundtable that Poloff attended, speakers from  both sides agreed that the peace process under the Composite  Dialogue was critical to refocusing budgets from defense to  human development.  Poloff was struck by participants'  comments that especially in Pakistan ""retired officers can  impact policy.""  The only stumbling point during the day was  disagreement over whether Kashmir should be the first order  of business between New Delhi and Islamabad, with  representatives from both sides reverting to their  governments' traditional positions and one Pakistani  brigadier asking rhetorically, ""If your Kashmiris are so  happy, why not hold a plebiscite?""  That brief flare-up soon  died down, however, after both delegations agreed that they  had more commonalties than differences. 
 
¶5.  (SBU) Former Indian Chief of Naval Staff Admiral L  Ramdas, who brought retired senior Indian officers to  Pakistan in 2001, headed the Indian side.  The Pakistani  group included retired Corps Commanders LTG Nasir Akhtar  (Karachi), LTG Humayun Khan Bangash (Lahore and later  Ambassador to Turkey), and MG Nawaz Chaudhry, Defense Attache  to the US in the mid-1980s.  After the roundtable, which was  organized by the MOD think-tank Institute for Defense Studies  and Analysis, the Pakistani delegation met with New Delhi  Chief Minister Sheila Dixit, and a small group later saw Home  Minister Shivraj Patil.  Their other stops in India included  Amritsar, Agra, and Jaipur. 
  Comment 
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¶6.  (SBU) These two events are the most recent examples of  the proliferation of cross-border exchanges that are  connecting Indian and Pakistani businesspeople,  professionals, students, journalists, athletes, and others. 
We are struck by participants' sense of the soft power they  wield, which vests both countries in their ongoing dialogue,  even as friction over the Kashmir dispute remains.  These  events are also important in the Indian context as a  reflection of the shifting politics of Indo-Pak relations. 
In contrast to past eras, when ""Pak bashing"" was a reliable  vote getter, friendship with Pakistan has now begun to  resonate politically, which provides an element of ballast in  the recast peace process that was lacking before. 
MULFORD