VZCZCXRO3568
OO RUEHAST RUEHBI RUEHCI RUEHLH RUEHNEH RUEHPW
DE RUEHNE #2942/01 3231156
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 181156Z NOV 08
FM AMEMBASSY NEW DELHI
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 4259
INFO RUCNCLS/ALL SOUTH AND CENTRAL ASIA COLLECTIVE
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHDC
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC
RUEIDN/DNI WASHINGTON DC
RUEKJCS/JCS WASHDC

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 NEW DELHI 002942 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
SCA FOR ASSISTANT SECRETARY BOUCHER 
SCA/INS OWEN 
SCA/NEA/EX WHAUGH 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV AMGT HR OIG IN
SUBJECT: ADDITIONAL RESOURCES NEEDED TO COVER THE BIGGEST 
ELECTION IN THE HISTORY OF THE PLANET 
 
¶1. (U) Action Request -- Paragraph 1. 
 
Summary and Action Request 
-------------------------- 
 
¶2. (U) Mission India urges the Department to make available 
approximately $72,000 in additional travel funds as well as 
four to six additional TDY reporting officers for a period of 
two to four months for coverage of the Indian national 
election, due before May 2009.  The additional resources will 
enable Mission India to enhance the quality and breadth of 
our coverage of this massive -- 675 million voters -- 
election, one that has important implications for U.S.-India 
relations.  The additional funds will allow officers to 
travel beyond Delhi's ring road and the cities where our 
consulates are based so that we can paint a discerning 
portrait of India's rich political landscape, particularly 
for officials of the incoming Administration.  This portrait 
can then be used a baseline metric for future coverage of a 
country that will be a major international player in this 
century and one with which our strategic interests will 
increasingly coincide.  Mission India has created a 
country-wide election coverage plan (please see para 6) 
deploying resources from Embassy New Delhi and consulates in 
Chennai, Mumbai, Kolkata and Hyderabad for this vast 
democratic undertaking. 
 
Why We Must Cover the Elections as Never Before 
--------------------------------------------- -- 
 
¶3. (U) The U.S.-India bilateral relationship has transformed 
over the last decade, capped most recently by the signing of 
the U.S.-India Civil Nuclear Initiative on October 11.  But 
this marks only the end of the beginning.  It opens a new 
chapter in our relationship, one which has the potential to 
be among our most important international partnerships.  Now 
more than ever, India engages the strategic interests of the 
U.S. in Asia and beyond.  Based on our shared interests, 
common challenges and an increasingly convergent worldview, 
we have begun to more closely coordinate our foreign policies 
in many areas.  Further, our coverage of the elections 
assumes greater significance because the Obama Administration 
will be assuming office in Washington just before the Indian 
elections take place.  Our reporting and analysis will help 
new administration officials better understand the new 
globalized India they must deal with. 
 
Why We Need More Resources to Get the Job Done 
--------------------------------------------- - 
 
¶4. (SBU) The era of big tent politics in India is over. 
Globalization in the Indian political context means 
heightened political awareness and access to information 
through an explosive growth in media outlets.  This has fed 
the rise of regional political parties which has in turn 
diminished the standing of the two traditional national 
parties, the Congress Party and the Bharatiya Janata Party 
(BJP).  Political reporting means much more than simply 
talking to a handful of Congress Party and BJP bosses in New 
Delhi.  In a multi-ethnic, multi-religious, and 
multi-linguistic society such as India, national elections 
are now won and lost on local issues in the country's 34 
states and territories. 
 
¶5. (SBU) In order to capture these political realities the 
USG must send officers frequently and far afield.  However, 
Mission India has neither the personnel nor the travel 
funding to take on this substantial but temporary 
requirement.  For example, Consulate General Kolkata has only 
one reporting officer who must cover 13 different 
states/territories with a combined population of 290 million 
(roughly equal to that of the U.S.).  Besides election 
reporting, this officer is also responsible for all other 
reporting duties including economics, G/TIP, science and 
environment, and terrorism.  In Delhi, one officer covers 
Uttar Pradesh, which at 180 million has a population on par 
with Brazil. 
 
Travel Plan 
----------- 
 
 
NEW DELHI 00002942  002 OF 002 
 
 
¶6. (U) Mission India has prepared a detailed travel plan to 
carry out election reporting.  Below is a summary of the 
resources needed.  For the full plan, please see the 
spreadsheet accompanying this cable.  Dollar figures 
generally include airfare, per diem and M&IE for two people 
(one American and one LES) per trip. 
 
State               Trips    Est. Cost 
-----               -----    --------- 
¶1. Uttar Pradesh      3         6,400 
¶2. Maharashtra        3         3,800 
¶3. West Bengal        2         1,200 
¶4. Andhra Pradesh     3         7,000 
¶5. Bihar              3         4,800 
¶6. Tamil Nadu         2         2,100 
¶7. Madhya Pradesh     3         4,800 
¶8. Karnataka          3         8,200 
¶9. Gujarat            3         4,800 
¶10. Rajasthan         3         4,800 
¶11. Kerala            2         3,200 
¶12. Punjab            2         3,200 
¶13. Northeast         2         3,200 
¶14. Orissa            2         3,200 
¶15. Jharkhand         2         3,200 
¶16. Chhattisgarh      2         3,200 
¶17. Other             2         5,000 
-----                        --------- 
Total                          72,000 
 
What the New Resources Will Buy Us 
---------------------------------- 
 
¶7. (U) The additional resources will be used to deploy 
reporting officers at least twice to the top twelve 
bellwether states, which together account for three quarters 
of the seats in parliament.  We will be able to fully cover 
the run-up to elections, the campaign itself and voting on 
polling days.  Reporting officers will profile 15-20 of the 
largest regional parties that are likely to be significant 
players in the new parliament.  We will also be able to 
better analyze how the most important issues -- inflation, 
terrorism, Hindu nationalism, and the U.S.-India Civil 
Nuclear Initiative -- are playing in different regions and 
with different voter groups.  And most importantly, we will 
be able to more thoroughly assess the election's implications 
for U.S.-India relations. 
 
¶8. (U) In an assessment of the Global Repositioning 
Initiative, which benefited New Delhi, the Office of the 
Inspector General praised post's judicious use of limited 
resources, noting that the mission "has a political section 
ready and eager to carry out the outreach element of 
transformational diplomacy, but lacks the local staff and 
travel money necessary to support it."  A one-time influx of 
travel funds and assistance to cover the 2009 elections would 
not resolve this underlying resource issue, but would serve 
to ameliorate it in a time of real mission need.  TDY 
assistance could be sought from the Bureau and/or INR. 
 
¶9. (U) The mission thanks the Department in advance for 
considering this request.  We believe the additional 
resources will yield valuable benefits for USG interests for 
many years to come. 
WHITE