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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 04 NEW DELHI 005157 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL PGOV PTER SENV ECON CH BM IN
SUBJECT: DELHI DIARY, NOVEMBER 22-30 
 
 
¶1. (U) Below is a compilation of political highlights from 
Embassy New Delhi for November 22-30,2007 that did not 
feature in our other reporting, including: 
 
-- India Freezes Arms sales to Burma 
-- India votes against the UN's draft resolution on Burma 
-- PM Singh to Visit China 
-- Indian is First Asian Elected Secretary-General of the 
Commonwealth 
-- Communist Land Grab in Kerala This Time 
-- Delhi: A Losing Battle Against Air Pollution in the Short 
Term? 
-- India Slips in UNDP's Human Development Index: GOI Finds 
Fault With Recommendations 
 
India Freezes Arms Sales to Burma 
------ 
 
¶2.  (SBU)  The Hindustan Times reported on November 26 that 
South Block has finally decided to freeze all arms sales and 
transfers to Burma in the wake of the junta's brutal 
crackdown on peaceful demonstrators in September.  According 
to the press report, the MEA source said that India "believes 
that contact with the junta is in its strategic interests, 
but also wants to send out a message that it is not quite 
business as usual any longer."  Perhaps, the operative word 
here is "quite," as the GOI continues to forge ahead with its 
plan to invest USD$ 103 million to renovate Burma's Sittwe 
Port in an effort to open up India's northeastern states to 
ASEAN markets.  India's response to the regime's violent 
suppression of pro-democracy forces remains slow and 
incremental. 
 
India Votes Against the UN's Draft Resolution on Burma 
------ 
 
¶3.  (SBU)  Along with China, Russia, Iran, and Pakistan, 
among others, India voted against the UNGA Third Committee's 
draft resolution on the human rights situation in Burma on 
November 20.  India's representative told the Committee that 
"India has consistently maintained that all initiatives 
vis-a-vis Myanmar should be forward-looking, 
non-condemnatory, and seek to engage the government in a 
non-intrusive and constructive manner."  While India's 
negative vote is not surpising given its soft stance on the 
Burmese junta and its longstanding policy to vote against UN 
initiatives aimed at particular countries, it's ironic that 
they cast their vote beside China, which the GOI cites in its 
regional balance of power argument as its primary compulsion 
for continuing to engage the junta. 
 
PM Singh to Visit China 
----- 
 
¶4.  (U)  The Government of India announced that Prime 
Minister Manmohan Singh will visit China on January 12-13. 
Media sources report that Singh will focus on expanding 
economic ties, discuss congruence on regional and global 
issues (read: climate change and U.N. reform), and reiterate 
India's comittment to a "fair, reasonable, and mutually 
acceptable solution to the boundary question."  In addition, 
"The Hindu" quoted government sources as stating that Singh 
aims to "take the India-China Strategic and Cooperative 
Partnership for Peace and Prosperity to the next level." 
 
Indian is First Asian Elected Secretary-General of the 
Commonwealth 
----- 
 
¶5. (SBU)  Current High Commissioner to the U.K. Kamlesh 
Sharma was selected as the new Secretary-General of the 
Commonwealth at the Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting 
in Kampala, Uganda on November 23.  According to sources, 
India lobbied hard to sway Canada, Australia, and New Zealand 
after gaining initial support from African member states. 
Sharma will assume charge on April 1, 2008, succeeding 
Secretary-General Don McKinnon of New Zealand.  Addressing 
 
SIPDIS 
the Indian media after his selection, Sharma stated that he 
will strive to ensure that the Commonwealth is a mainstream 
 
NEW DELHI 00005157  002 OF 004 
 
 
organization and to achieve a balance between growth and 
development so that visible prosperity can be achieved for 
all member states.  Sharma is the first Asian to be elected 
to lead the organization.  His first challenge will be 
balancing the Commonwealth's expulsion of Pakistan with 
India's concentrated efforts to avoid criticizing Musharraf's 
recent domestic maneouvers. 
 
Communist Land Grab in Kerala This Time 
------- 
 
¶6.  (U) According to media reports, 2000 cadres of the 
Communist Party of India - Marxist (CPM) forcibly occupied 
laid claim to about 1500 acres of land in the eastern Kerala 
highlands on November 26 after physically chasing away about 
200 landless tribal families from the area.  The incident 
occurred in the Chinnakkanal section of Kerala's Munnar 
district, which is known for its tea estates and scenic 
landscape.  In a well planned operation, the CPM workers were 
trucked into the area.  After forcing the tribals away from 
the area, the CPM cadres destroyed the tribals' huts, fenced 
off the area, and planted CPM flags.  The land in contention 
was previously unoccupied reserve forest land belonging to 
the government.  Tribals had begun encroaching on the land 
two weeks earlier in protest that they had not been given 
land that had been legally granted to them in 2003. 
 
¶7.  (U) The conflict has been diffused somewhat since the CPM 
land grab on November 26.  First, the Additional District 
Magistrate called an all-party mediation meeting in which the 
CPM agreed to move out, the tribals agreed not to move back, 
and the government pledged to immediately take action on the 
tribals' demands.  Whether the agreement endures, remains to 
be seen.  According to media reports, tribal leaders believe 
the "the aim of the Marxist is to confuse the Government by 
saying Adivasis (i.e., tribals) who put huts here are not 
entitled to land."  CPM leaders alleged the tribal families 
are being used by "foreign funded NGOs" to grab government 
property.  The Communist Party of India (CPI), which is a CPM 
coalition partner in Kerala's LDF government, took vigorous 
exception to the actions of the CPM workers.  The state 
Congress Party alleged that the CPM was working at the behest 
of the "land mafia." 
 
¶8.  (SBU) The CPM action in Munnar comes shortly after the 
Nandigram imbroglio in West Bengal, where armed CPM cadre 
went on a rampage to evict thousands of land-owners 
(reftels).  While comparisons are inevitable, there are 
important differences between Munnar and Nandigram.  Although 
there is tension in Munnar, there is no comparable violence 
or confrontation.  Both the tribals and the CPM are guilty of 
encroaching on public land in Munnar whereas the CPM drove 
out long-established villagers from their homes and land in 
Nandigram. A resolution appears to be at hand in Munnar, 
while Nandigram is a long-drawn out confrontation with no 
resolution in sight.  And, unlike in West Bengal, where 
thirty years of uninterrupted rule has given the CPM a lock 
on power, the presence of a strong opposition Congress Party 
serves as a check on the Kerala's CPM, making Nandigram-style 
excesses unlikely.  That said, the similarities of tactics 
employed by the CPM in Munnar and Nandigram -- heavy-handed 
physical intimidation, forcible grabbing of land, identifying 
weak and defenseless victims to bully -- demonstrate the 
ruthless authoritarian approach the CPM uses to get its way. 
Even more worrisome for democratic institutions and rule of 
law in India is an allegation leveled by a Kerala Congress 
leader: the CPM goal in Munnar is to change the demographic 
and electoral profile in the district by relocating CPM 
families into the area (and presumably chasing out non-CPM 
households.) 
 
Delhi: A Losing Battle Against Air Pollution in the Short 
Term? 
------- 
 
¶9.  (U) Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dixit would like to make 
a significant dent in the capital's air pollution by 2010, 
when the city hosts the next round of the Commonwealth Games. 
 When respiratory illnesses plaguing Delhites reached their 
 
NEW DELHI 00005157  003 OF 004 
 
 
peak in 1998, Delhi was considered one of the top ten most 
polluted cities in the world.  In response to a public outcry 
and given the lack of political will by the state government 
to change the situation, the Indian Supreme Court stepped in 
to order the use of Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) for public 
transport.  Delhi residents and frequent visitors attest to 
the dramatic change in air quality that resulted from the 
mandate.  Delhi's CNG-powered public transportation system 
has generated considerable international chatter and 
admiration.  However, the sharp rise in the number of cars on 
the road has offset these impressive gains. 
 
¶10.  (U) Dixit's call for a still more radical reduction in 
air pollution came last week when she inaugurated the 
international conference "CNG -- Averting  Disaster." She 
outlined the Delhi government's environmental policy, 
underscoring her government's commitment to making the city 
"pollution-free" within the next three years.  She noted the 
purchase of a new fleet of CNG-powered buses as well as 
efforts to convert 40,000 smaller commercial vehicles from 
diesel to CNG. 
 
¶11.  (U) Comment: Dixit and Delhi may, however, be fighting a 
loosing battle.  As Indian economic growth has accelerated to 
record levels during the last five years, there has been an 
explosion in the number of commercial and private vehicles in 
Delhi.  The sharpest increase has been in the number of 
diesel-powered vehicles which tend to have higher emissions. 
An Indian automobile industry group estimates that the number 
of diesel-run cars in India is expected to increase 50 
percent in the next three years.  The sheer pace of traffic 
congestion and the resultant emissions in Delhi is likely to 
be a stumbling block to Dixit's administration to implement 
clean air policies.  Additn to the sharp rise in car 
ownership will be the One Lakh Car proposed by Tata Motors, 
India's largest auto manufacturer.  Tata is expected to 
release the world's cheapest car valued at USD 2500 in 2009. 
The proposed "people's car" will make it more affordable for 
tens of millions of Indian households who until now could 
only dream of owning an automobile.    While there are many 
economic and societal benefits from such a development, the 
price of such a mass produced car could be the pressure it 
places on air pollution.  Dixit remains undeterred, intending 
to extend pollution control measures to all the states in the 
national Capital region and calling on the people to "speak 
up against diesel-run cars."  End Comment. 
 
India Slips in UNDP's Human Development Index: 
GOI Finds Fault With Recommendations 
---------- 
 
¶12.  (SBU) On November 27, the United Nations Development 
Programme (UNDP) released its annual Human Development Report 
showing that India's ranking in the UNDP's Human Development 
Index (HDI) dropped two places from 126 to 128 between 2006 
and 2007.  The HDI is a UNDP-developed measure of life 
expectancy, literacy, education, standard of living and 
well-being of residents of countries world-wide.  Despite an 
improvement in India's gross HDI value due primarily to solid 
gains in GDP and gross school enrollment, India's ranking 
fell because of better performance of other countries.  The 
report acknowledges the high rates of economic growth 
achieved by India in recent years but warns that the benefits 
have been unequally shared among the rich and poor in India, 
with 28 percent of its population (320 million) still living 
below the poverty line. 
 
¶13.  (SBU) The 2007 UNDP report strongly suggests that 
climate change could reverse steady linear progress in 
health, education, and poverty reduction.  The report states 
South Asia and the Gangetic plain will suffer the most from 
climate change due to flooding and temperature variations, 
which will affect agriculture.  According to the report, a 
temperature rise of between three and four degrees Celsius 
would displace 340 million people through floods and 
draughts.  Linking climate disaster with grave setbacks in 
social indicators, like nutritional status and education, 
particularly among women and girls, the report recommends all 
countries reduce carbon emissions.  Specifically, the UNDP 
 
NEW DELHI 00005157  004 OF 004 
 
 
report recommends developed nations reduce carbon emissions 
at least 30 percent by 2020 and 80 percent by 2050.  It also 
recommends developing countries reduce their carbon emissions 
at least 20 percent by 2050. 
 
¶14.  (SBU) Planning Commission Chairman Montek Singh 
Ahluwalia trashed the report and its recommendations, 
claiming the recommendations are not fair, even if they 
appear egalitarian.  Ahluwalia argued that a reduction 
strategy should be based on per capita emissions rather than 
total emissions which place a disproportionate burden on 
countries such as India, which have a much smaller carbon 
footprint.  He asserted that developing countries should be 
allowed to increase their emissions while wealthier countries 
should reduce theirs. 
 
¶15.  (SBU) Comment: India's fall in the UNDP rankings came as 
a rude shock to many Indians who in recent years have gotten 
used to a continuous diet of positive stories about India's 
economic resurgence and finding its rightful place on the 
international stage.  The UNDP report serves to remind 
Indians that despite its economic take-off, India has a long 
way to go before it can join the ranks of the developed 
countries.  In terms of the report's recommendations on 
carbon emissions, India sees the UNDP prescriptions shackling 
its upward economic mobility and its push for the sustained 
8-10 percent economic growth it needs in order to expand 
economic benefits of growth to the rural population. End 
Comment. 
MULFORD