VZCZCXRO9648
RR RUEHBI RUEHCI
DE RUEHCG #0475/01 2041019
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 231019Z JUL 07
FM AMCONSUL CHENNAI
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 1084
INFO RUEHNE/AMEMBASSY NEW DELHI 2666
RUEHBI/AMCONSUL MUMBAI 5082
RUEHCI/AMCONSUL KOLKATA 0812
RUEHLM/AMEMBASSY COLOMBO 1341
RUEHCG/ALL SOUTH AND CENTRAL ASIA COLLECTIVE
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC
RUEKJCS/JOINT STAFF WASHDC
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHDC
RUENAAA/SECNAV WASHDC
RHMFITT/HQ USCENTCOM MACDILL AFB FL
RHHMUNA/HQ USPACOM HONOLULU HI
RHHMHAA/COMPACFLT PEARL HARBOR HI
RUYNABU/COMCARSTRKGRU FIVE DET YOKOSUKA JA
RUAYAIT/COMSEVENTHFLT NLLS YOKOSUKA JA
RHVUMTZ/USS NIMITZ
RHVWPIN/USS PINCKNEY

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 CHENNAI 000475 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: MOPS MARR MNUC PREL PGOV KPAO ASEC IN
SUBJECT: Nuclear-Powered Nimitz Visits Chennai: The Only Emission Is 
Goodwill 
 
¶1. (SBU) SUMMARY: The July 2-5 visit of USS Nimitz to Chennai was an 
overwhelming success, overcoming criticism, protests, and 
bureaucratic hurdles to make an indelible impression on the 
bilateral strategic relationship.  Citing the incident-free shore 
visits by thousands of sailors and their ready engagement in 
numerous community relations projects at schools, orphanages and 
tsunami-affected villages, one national newsmagazine concluded 
 
SIPDIS 
"Goodwill, clearly, seems to be the only fallout of this nuclear 
warship's visit."  Also significant is the estimated $1.5 million 
that the visit injected into the Chennai economy, not to mention the 
military-to-military engagement that was a central purpose of the 
visit.  Our hats are off to the officers and crew of Nimitz and its 
sister ship USS Pinckney for their professionalism, hospitality, 
flexibility and superb representation of the U.S. and the USN.  END 
SUMMARY. 
 
---------------------------- 
Chennaiities, Media Are Awed 
---------------------------- 
 
¶2. (U) The public diplomacy impact of the Nimitz visit is difficult 
to overstate from both the media and people-to-people perspectives. 
Nimitz literally dominated local media for more than a week and 
attracted significant national attention, with positive reports far 
outnumbering critical ones.  The heavy community relations (COMREL) 
schedule (see below) generated numerous "feel good" news stories 
involving the sailors on each day of the visit.  The intensity of 
the coverage was, in our experience, paralleled only by President 
Bush's March 2006 visit to Hyderabad. 
 
¶3. (U) On the people-to-people side, the Nimitz visit brought an 
unprecedented number of Americans to south India at one time. 
Several contacts commented to us that the visit was a great success 
simply for the fact that it was the first American event of this 
scale in Chennai, south India's largest city.  They noted that 
American travelers tend to focus on North India, and the simple fact 
that the visit happened in Chennai demonstrated U.S. interest in the 
region.  The sheer number and high quality of the COMREL projects 
resulted in a large number of interactions between sailors and 
marines and the citizens of Chennai.  Over 700 crew members 
participated in a total of 11 COMREL events over the course of three 
days.  Reports from all COMREL events indicated a high degree of 
goodwill generated both from the work done as well as the 
interactions between the crew and their Indian host institutions. 
 
¶4. (U) The sailors' free time while on shore in Chennai generated an 
estimated $1.5 million in business, pleasing vendors and local 
businesses.  A state government official responsible for public 
order told us that the state government feels the visit went off 
well, most importantly due to the lack of any untoward incidents. 
"The sailors behaved well and the general public perception was 
positive," according to the contact.  Their incident-free 
interactions with the locals provided further evidence of a 
non-threatening, and in fact friendly, U.S. military that aims to 
get closer to India. 
 
--------------------------------------------- --------- 
Rough Seas Swamp Reception, But Pinckney Saves the Day 
--------------------------------------------- --------- 
 
¶5. (SBU) The July 2 reception planned for on-board Nimitz, which was 
to be co-hosted by Ambassador Mulford and was intended to double as 
Chennai's official Independence Day event, had to be cancelled at 
the last minute when rough seas made it impossible to transport the 
400 guests from the pier to the carrier.  With the guests already 
processed through security and assembled on the pier, a significant 
public relations fiasco loomed until USS Pinckney, moored at pier 
side, volunteered to host the guests for tours and light 
refreshments.  Thanks to the flexibility and hospitality of 
Pinckney's crew, the potential fiasco turned into a great success. 
Ambassador Mulford informally addressed the guests using Pinckney's 
public address system, and he chatted with many as they toured the 
vessel.  The Ambassador's formal remarks that had been prepared for 
 
CHENNAI 00000475  002 OF 003 
 
 
delivery aboard Nimitz were converted into a statement and released 
to the media, receiving good coverage. 
 
--------------------------------------------- - 
Bureaucracy Reacts Slowly, Then Overwhelmingly 
--------------------------------------------- - 
 
¶6. (SBU) While the visit generated enormous goodwill, during the 
set-up we experienced bureaucratic hassles typical of a local and 
central government still queasy about hosting a U.S. Navy vessel.  A 
plethora of Indian central and state government authorities were 
involved in the visit, especially for our use of the Port of Chennai 
and the Chennai airport.  Thanks to good pre-existing relationships 
some of the entities, especially the Chennai Port Trust and the 
airport authority, were willing to engage cooperatively on advance 
arrangements.  Others maintained a "wait and see" attitude pending 
the last minute arrival of written approval for the visit from the 
Ministry of External Affairs. 
 
¶3. (SBU) Security arrangements were proceeding in a relatively 
low-key fashion until what Tamil Nadu state government contacts 
described to us as "urgent calls and written communications" from 
the Ministry of Defense substantially heightened police attention 
and activity, perhaps even more than called for.  After the central 
government intervention, which came only two days before Nimitz 
arrived, the state government and other security agencies urgently 
reviewed the security situation at each location where sailors were 
likely to mingle with the public, including all 12 sites planned for 
community relations (COMREL) projects.  Very late in the process, 
the state government and Chennai Police Commissioner raised security 
objections about a few of the most public COMREL sites, leading us 
to cancel or relocate those events.  At several of the other sites, 
police presence bordered on overwhelming. According to state 
government sources, altogether, 6,500 police officers were deployed, 
2,400 of them in plain clothes.  Occasionally it seemed that the 
police were more interested in watching the sailors and monitoring 
and videotaping their interactions with the local populace than with 
deterring any possible threats 
 
--------------------------------------------- ------- 
Ruling Politicians Don't Engage; Opposition Protests 
--------------------------------------------- ------- 
 
¶7. (SBU) The DMK political party, which governs in Tamil Nadu and 
supports the ruling UPA coalition on the national level, did not 
engage about the ship visit, either with us or in the media.  It 
seemed to take the approach, as it has on other foreign policy and 
defense issues, that those are matters for the central government 
rather than for the state.  We suspect that the cautious DMK 
leadership was happy to keep away from any political controversy or 
potential incidents that could have redounded negatively.  State 
government officials at the political level did not participate in 
any visit-related activities, and the state's Chief Secretary, the 
top bureaucrat, withdrew from one of the distinguished visitor 
fly-outs at the last minute. 
 
¶8. (SBU) In contrast, Governor of Tamil Nadu Surjit Singh Barnala, a 
central government appointee, responded warmly to the visit.  He 
welcomed the senior U.S. Navy leadership to Raj Bhavan, his official 
office and residence, and after rough seas forced the cancellation 
of the on-board reception, the Governor asked that his adult 
grandchildren and senior staff be accommodated for a subsequent 
tour.  Captain Manazir personally arranged for their tour and 
received them aboard Nimitz. 
 
¶9. (SBU) Tamil Nadu's leading opposition political party, the 
AIADMK, and others such as the Communist Party of India-Marxist 
(CPI-M) were not reticent in voicing their opposition to the visit, 
and their criticism reached the national media.  AIADMK leader J 
Jayalalithaa tied her criticism to the fears of radiation hazards, 
while her ally Vaiko of the MDMK added that the ships' presence 
would "endanger the country's sovereignty and security."  With the 
exception of ideologically-based objections from the CPI, most of 
 
CHENNAI 00000475  003 OF 003 
 
 
the local political criticism had more to do with political 
rivalries and opportunism than with substantive issues.  But several 
protest demonstrations, some numbering over 1,000 participants, 
gained very little traction among the general population and did 
nothing to disrupt the visit or the comings and goings of sailors 
and visitors. 
 
--------------------------------------------- ---------- 
Radiation Fears Put to Rest; Weapons Confusion Persists 
--------------------------------------------- ---------- 
 
¶10. (SBU) Not unlike media elsewhere, the Indian media thrives on 
headlines and sound-bites, and it is not averse to finding 
controversy even where it does not exist.  Many of the early, 
pre-arrival reports about Nimitz focused on its nuclear power system 
and the possibility of radiation leaks.  After days of reports and 
discussion, the fears were largely put to rest by the effective 
public affairs information from Nimitz about the U.S. Navy's 
flawless nuclear power record and by helpful statements from Indian 
nuclear experts (several of whom are persistent critics of the 
nuclear deal) about the lack of radiation danger posed by nuclear 
powered vessels.  Nonetheless, Indian authorities were quoted as 
saying they would closely monitor the air and sea while Nimitz was 
in port. 
 
¶11. (SBU) The media seemed less able to deal with our nuanced 
official approach not to comment about any presence or absence of 
nuclear weapons on U.S. warships.  While some outlets reported the 
stance accurately, others variously cited the Consulate, the 
Ambassador and even Captain Manazir of the Nimitz as confirming the 
presence of nuclear weapons.  (It goes without saying that all hewed 
strictly to our official stance.) 
 
¶12. (SBU) COMMENT: There are a great many operational and logistical 
lessons-learned from the Nimitz visit, which we will record and/or 
communicate in other channels.  Although we would do many things 
differently the next time around (and we hope there will be a next 
time), the balance of the July 2-5 visit is very heavily on the 
positive side.  Consulate General Chennai very much appreciates the 
huge assistance provided by Embassy New Delhi, particularly the 
Naval Attache, in supporting the visit and, most of all, the superb 
performance of the men and women of USS Nimitz and USS Pinckney. 
 
¶13. (SBU) Embassy New Delhi Comment: The Nimitz visit still 
resonates in the central government halls in New Delhi, where the 
positive impact will help reinforce the UPA government's steady 
approach towards a strategic partnership with the U.S.  Friends from 
across the political spectrum were gleeful at the Left's failure to 
spark wider opposition to the Nimitz visit.  While the Indian 
military has coveted our cutting-edge technology for years, the 
professional, approachable demeanor of our sailors will help us 
build a better partnership based on security and strategic 
stability. 
 
¶14. (U) This message was coordinated with Embassy New Dehli. 
 
KAPLAN