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

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 NEW DELHI 001073 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/09/2015 
TAGS: PREL PINR PGOV IN PK INDO PAK

SUBJECT: ""NATWAR'S MAN"" SK LAMBAH: INDIA'S LIKELY NEW  SPECIAL ENVOY TO ISLAMABAD 
  REF: A. NEW DELHI 709 
 
     ¶B. NEW DELHI 961 
  Classified By: DCM Robert O. Blake, Jr. for Reasons 1.4 (B, D) 
 
¶1.  (C) Summary: The expected appointment of retired career  diplomat Satinder Kumar Lambah as Special Envoy to Pakistan  would maintain the web of engagement between New Delhi and  Islamabad, but at a quieter pitch, a decidedly lower  political level, and with firmer MEA guidance than was the  case when JN Dixit and Brajesh Mishra handled the  back-channel.  Lambah would owe his job to Foreign Minister  Natwar Singh, his superior in the MEA over twenty years ago. 
This will reinforce his ""low profile"" personality and ensure  that the Indo-Pak back-channel closely follows South Block's  lead.  Although Lambah is not an anti-Pakistan hawk, he would  not be the free-wheeling operator that Dixit was, and would  probably prove less able to clear bureaucratic and policy  logjams in New Delhi.  Lambah's apparent selection would be  the latest example of PM Manmohan Singh's attempts to  rationalize the bureaucracy and eliminate the competing power  centers represented in the past by ""super-diplomats"" like  Dixit and Mishra.  It will also place a greater burden on the  PM to be willing to intervene with new ideas and initiatives  if MEA-led efforts stumble.  This cable also provides  biographic data on Lambah.  End Summary. 
  Moving the Back-Channel Off the Front Page ... 
--------------------------------------------- - 
 
¶2.  (C) Ambassador SK Lambah has not been publicly named as  the next interlocutor with Islamabad, although ""Hindu""  Diplomatic Correspondent Amit Baruah recently said that his  assignment ""is an 'open secret' in South Block and beyond.""  He speculated that ""since the 'official track two' is  supposed to be quiet, no formal announcement would be made.""  Both Commodore Uday Bhaskar, Deputy Director of the  MOD-affiliated Institute for Defense Studies and Analysis,  and BJP Foreign Policy Adviser Ambassador SK Arora emphasized  to Poloff the importance the GOI placed on keeping the  back-channel talks out of the public eye, ostensibly to avoid  inflating expectations or sending conflicting signals.  In  this regard, MEA has repeatedly expressed to us their  consternation at frequent leaks from Islamabad of engagements  between Dixit, Mishra, and GOP NSA Tariq Aziz. 
 
... And Moving Diplomacy Back to the MEA 
---------------------------------------- 
 
¶3.  (C) Lambah's anticipated selection as Special Envoy would  also represent the latest in a string of recent MEA victories  to consolidate high-level diplomacy back into the Foreign  Ministry (Ref A).  Lambah, like Special Envoy for West Asia  Chinmaya Gharekhan (Ref B), is expected to report to Foreign  Minister Natwar Singh -- a break from NSAs Dixit and Brajesh  Mishra, who enjoyed direct access to the PM.  Foreign affairs  editors in New Delhi are betting that other special envoys to  be named, for example to China and to the European Union,  would also be ""MEA men,"" which will strengthen and enlarge  Natwar Singh's political clout. 
 
¶4.  (C) Interestingly (and another sign of the MEA's  concerted effort to regain control of the foreign policy  function), PMO Director Pavan Kapoor -- who accompanied  Mishra and Dixit on all their private diplomacy -- told  PolCouns on February 3 that he will not be replaced when he  leaves for a Geneva posting later in February.  That decision  was made by the MEA, which chose not to detail a successor to  the PMO (presumably calculating that putting fewer FSOs there  makes it harder for that part of South Block to pursue an  independent foreign policy). 
  ""Natwar's Man"" 
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¶5.  (C) Because Lambah is expected to report to Natwar Singh,  for whom he worked as DCM when the latter was High  Commissioner to Islamabad, most observers expect Lambah to be  ""Natwar's Man.""  Former MP Kuldip Nayyar and journalist Zafar  Agha told us recently that Lambah would faithfully carry the  MEA's messages, but they did not believe he would have the  clout to untangle the inevitable logjams that crop up in this  relationship.  He would probably find it difficult to  initiate policy unilaterally, which appears to be a suitable  match for his personality, they said.  Having dealt with  Lambah extensively in recent years, we share this assessment  that he is unlikely to step out of the Foreign Minister's  shadow. 
  He's No Dixit 
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¶6.  (C) In addition to not possessing the political heft and  top-level access that JN Dixit enjoyed, Lambah's personality  is not the ""force to be reckoned with"" that Dixit's was,  according to Nayyar.  However, because Lambah does not  represent a separate power center, he could be successful at  consensus-building within the MEA.  One of Lambah's former  Foreign Ministry superiors, BJP Foreign Affairs Cell member  Dr. IP Singh, recalled that in the mid-1970s he was ""a  low-profile doer."" 
  ""Not Overly Hardline"" 
--------------------- 
 
¶7.  (C) Although former High Commissioners to Islamabad are  usually hawks on Pakistan -- Natwar himself and Center for  Policy Research Professor G. Parthasarthy come to mind --  several Indian commentators have predicted to us that Lambah  would be acceptable to the GOP.  NDTV ""Foreign Correspondent""  host Ajai Shukla, who met Lambah in early February, described  him as ""not overly hardline"" and ""a sophisticated negotiator  able to take the eagle's eye view of bilateral talks held  under the watchful eye of the international community (read:  US).""  The Pakistani High Commission had a similar positive  view.  Shukla expanded that ""Lambah is the opposite end of  the spectrum from Parthasarthy, because Lambah was High  Commissioner during a period of relative detente,"" although  Islamabad ""may be concerned with Lambah's post-Taliban work  in Afghanistan, where he leveraged India's position relative  to Pakistan's."" 
  Good on US-India 
---------------- 
 
¶8.  (C) Lambah is highly regarded by his foreign service  colleagues, and has received good reviews for his role as  National Security Advisory Board (NSAB) chairman.  As Special  Envoy to Afghanistan, Lambah worked closely with his US  counterpart, Ambassador Jim Dobbins.  Since retirement, he  has been active in the CII/Aspen Strategy Group, a high-level  forum that focuses on advancing the US-India relationship. 
In his frequent interactions with the Embassy, Lambah is open  and accessible, speaking warmly of his relationships in the  US.  (NOTE: Lambah has refused all meetings until his  appointment is announced officially.  End Note.) 
  Bio-Notes 
--------- 
 
¶9.  (C) After joining the IFS in 1964, Lambah held  assignments in Moscow, Dhaka, and Rome.  His senior postings  were as follows: 
 
-- 1978-82, Deputy Chief of Mission, Islamabad 
-- 1982-86, MEA Joint Secretary (Pakistan, Afghanistan,  Iran), New Delhi 
-- 1983, Deputy Secretary General, Seventh Non-Aligned  Summit, New Delhi 
-- 1986-89, Ambassador to Budapest 
-- 1989-92, Consul General, San Francisco, where he helped  raise $4 million in six months to fund scholarships and two  Indian Studies chairs at UC/Berkeley Journalism School 
-- 1992-95, High Commissioner, Islamabad 
-- 1995-98, Ambassador to Bonn 
-- 1998-2001, Ambassador to Moscow 
-- 2001, Retired from IFS; chaired a committee on MEA  reorganization 
-- 2001-02 (July), Special Representative to Kabul 
-- 2004, Convener, National Security Advisory Board 
 
¶10.  (C) Lambah, a Hindu, was born on July 16, 1941, in  Peshawar, in what is now Pakistan.  He holds a master's  degree in history from the prestigious St. Stephen's College,  University of Delhi.  Lambah and his wife, Nilima, have a son  and a daughter. 
  Comment 
------- 
  ¶11.  (C) Lambah's selection as Special Envoy would represent  the MEA's tightening grip on Indian foreign policy,  especially on Indo-Pak relations.  As he dives into the  Indo-Pak relationship, we expect he will enjoy a much shorter  leash than Dixit.  We do not agree with those who suggest  this reflects a downgrading in Pakistan's importance to the  GOI.  Rather, it reflects more an across-the-board  consolidation of Foreign Ministry control over the Indian  international agenda.  Whether Lambah would energize India's  approach to Pakistan is another question.  From the Delhi  perspective, his appointment could well specify a less  vigorous and creative approach to Islamabad, when the times  may call for the opposite.  This will put a premium on NSA  Narayanan and the PM himself to step in with new ideas and  initiatives if/when the MEA-led process breaks down, much as  former PM Vajpayee did so successfully. 
MULFORD