P 141119Z JUL 08
FM AMEMBASSY NEW DELHI
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UNCLAS NEW DELHI 001944 
 
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USDOC FOR 4530/IEP/ANESA/OSA FOR BILL MURPHY 
 
E.O. 12958:N/A 
TAGS: KMDR KPAO PGOV PREL IN
SUBJECT: MEDIA REACTION: U.S.-INDIA NUCLEAR DEAL, MIDDLE 
EAST, AFGHANISTAN, IRAN, U.S.-IRAN, PAKISTAN; NEW DELHI- 
JULY 12-14, 2008. 
 
This cable reports on relevant media reaction from 
India's large non-English press. Embassy New Delhi 
reports on English-language media via email in the daily 
"Early Edition".  USG customers please write to Geeta 
Krishali (KrishaliG@state.gov) to subscribe to the "Early 
Edition." 
 
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U.S.-INDIA NUCLEAR DEAL 
----------------------- 
 
¶1. "NO MORE DELAY," editorial in the July 14 independent 
Kolkata Bengali daily, ANANDABAZAR PATRIKA. "At the end 
of his rule, the Prime Minister has taken the first bold 
step on the Indo-U.S. nuclear deal by prioritizing 
national interests and ignoring nonsense opposition by 
the Leftists... If the government wins the confidence vote 
in Parliament, the Leftists will no longer be able to put 
up blockades... This is the right moment for accomplishing 
pending tasks of reforms... Nehruvian 'nationalism' is now 
pass. Establishing India as a formidable power in the 
international arena is now true nationalism... The next 
generation Indians prefer to tread along the path of 
reforms and they are the majority." 
 
¶2. "WHAT IS THE NEED FOR THIS SUDDEN HASTE VIS-@-VIS 
NUCLEAR DEAL?"  editorial in the July 14, 2008 centrist 
Gujarati daily GUJARATMITRA.  "While the nuclear deal has 
been in the debate from 2005, it has never gathered the 
momentum it has for the past week or so.  During his 
visit to G8 meeting, Indian Prime Minster Manmohan Singh 
told President Bush that India was ready to go ahead with 
this bilateral accord....  Some pertinent questions here 
are:  why did Prime Minister Singh chose to present the 
draft proposal [safeguards agreement] to a foreign body 
[IAEA] before taking the nation into confidence?  What 
prompted Singh to announce from 35, 000 feet [onboard his 
official aircraft en-route to Japan for G8 meeting] that 
India will seek IAEA approval?  Is this helplessness or 
over-confidence?  By taking this recourse, the government 
might be trying to divert the attention of people from 
other important issues like the inflation.  One other 
reason for this sudden haste could be President Bush 
leaving office in January 2009.  There is possibility 
that the new incumbent in the White House would like to 
rework the whole deal again....  Whatever may be the case, 
the future of deal and the future of government depends 
on the trust vote.  The Congress-led UPA government must 
not forget that former Prime Minister Vajpayee had lost 
the trust vote by one vote in Parliament!..." 
 
¶3. "PULP IS IMPORTANT; NOT THE PEEL," editorial in the 
July 12, Bangalore-based independent Kannada daily 
KANNADA PRABHA: "Recent political developments in Delhi 
and other places indicate that importance is being given 
to the peel rather than the pulp of the U.S.-India Civil 
Nuclear Agreement... No reactions have come from the 
politicians or parties after studying the draft text that 
has been sent to the IAEA... Most of the parties are trying 
to get political mileage out of the issue... Nuclear deal 
is a crucial issue and it will have an impact on the 
future of this nation. This issue should be debated well 
and a decision should be taken on the basis of the merits 
of the case. Trivial issues should not get the focus 
while debating this issue of national importance." 
 
¶4. "CONDITIONAL COOPERATION," op-ed in the July 12 DAINIK 
JAGRAN Hindi daily by strategic analyst Brahma Chellaney: 
 
"The IAEA has made the text of India's safeguards 
agreement public. Many questions have arisen after 
reading the text carefully. It is not mentioned anywhere 
in the text that India is a nuclear weapon state, and 
this is a unique agreement with India, first of its kind 
ever. India is permanently and legally bringing its 
entire civilian nuclear program under the IAEA 
safeguards. As for India's right to take corrective 
measures in case of fuel supply disruption, no such right 
has been secured in definable terms in the agreement. 
Nowhere does the text guarantee life-long fuel supplies, 
which is a violation of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's 
assurance to the Parliament of regular inspections with 
uninterrupted supply. India has willingly forfeited its 
right to perpetual supply by agreeing to remain powerless 
in a Tarapur-style fuel cut-off situation." 
 
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MIDDLE EAST 
----------- 
 
¶5. "PATH OF (NON) PEACE," editorial in the July 14 
independent Kolkata Bengali daily, ANANDABAZAR PATRIKA. 
"...The U.S. should dissuade from its policy of...keeping 
Iran continuously under suffocating pressure. There 
cannot be a single roadmap, approved by Israel and the 
U.S., for peace in the Mideast. Rather than imposing a 
U.S. blueprint, if the onus of solving the problem is 
vested with the organization of Islamic states, progress 
might be achieved. U.S. strategic interests and the 
Mideast peace interests may be mutually antithetical 
instead of being cimplimentary to each other." 
 
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AFGHANISTAN 
----------- 
 
¶6. "CONCERNS OF THE RED CROSS", editorial in the July 13 
right-of-center Urdu daily "RASHTRIYA SAHARA", New Delhi: 
"Red Cross International has expressed its deep concern 
over the killings of guileless citizens in Afghanistan. 
It is difficult to predict whether killings of innocent 
citizens will stop or not, but in the perspective of mass 
killings, it becomes the responsibility of the U.S. and 
its military allies to withdraw their forces from 
Afghanistan. They should, at least, direct their soldiers 
to ensure the safety of common people before any action. 
It is also the responsibility of the world community to 
raise this issue in international fora, including at the 
United Nations. They should come forward to save war-torn 
Afghanistan and its people. The Red Cross appeal is a 
tool to gauge the inhuman and illegal activities of 
allied forces in Afghanistan." 
 
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IRAN 
---- 
 
¶7. "GROWING CONFLICT," editorial in the July 12 HINDUSTAN 
Hindi daily: "U.S.-Iran confrontation has further 
escalated with the missile tests. Some experts say Iran's 
claims of its missile capability are overestimated and 
the strong U.S. reaction has added fuel to the fire. The 
growing tension between the two has resulted in 
instability in West Asia... The possibility of an Israeli 
attack on Iran has further deepened the crisis. The U.S. 
accuses Iran of manufacturing nuclear weapons, but the 
latter says it is a civilian nuclear program. Whatever be 
the truth, the dispute cannot be solved via military 
attacks, but with talks and UN intervention. Korea is a 
good example of that. A diplomatic initiative is needed 
because fighting nations ultimately have to meet at some 
dialogue table." 
 
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U.S.-IRAN 
--------- 
 
¶8. "FEAR OF WAR, ONCE AGAIN," editorial in the July 12, 
Hubli-based independent Kannada daily SAMYUKTHA 
KARNATAKA: "Once again the clouds of war have been 
looming large over West Asia as Iran, despite U.S.' 
pressure, is reluctant to stop its nuclear 
program. Israel also wants to stop Iran from acquiring a 
nuclear weapon... The United States believes that Iran has 
nuclear weapons and hence not prepared to trust Iran. It 
is interesting to recall that the US had earlier invaded 
Iraq on the pretext that Iraq possessed weapons of mass 
destruction... The current situation in Iran, which is the 
fourth major oil exporter, will upset the contemporary 
world economic scenario. If peace does not prevail in 
Iran, oil prices will escalate to cause hardship to the 
developing countries. It is the responsibility of the 
United Nations to take urgent measures to ensure peace in 
West Asia." 
 
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PAKISTAN 
-------- 
 
¶9. "PAKISTANI NUCLEAR PROLIFERATION," op-ed in the July 
13 DAINIK JAGRAN Hindi daily by security affairs 
specialist K. Subrahmanyam: "Pakistani nuclear scientist 
Abdul Qadir Khan has disclosed that his confession of 
being solely responsible for smuggling nuclear technology 
to Iran, North Korea and Libya was made under the 
Pakistani government and ISI's pressure. The 
proliferation could not have taken place without the 
complicity of Pakistan's military, but the government has 
reiterated that Khan is solely responsible. If Pakistan's 
nuclear security is so weak, then the world should be 
concerned about the safety of nuclear weapons and 
equipment with Pakistan.... U.S. is facing embarrassment by 
Khan's disclosure that Washington's long-time surrogate 
Pervez Musharraf was in the loop about the country's 
nuclear deals with North Korea. If North Korea confirms 
Khan's statement, it will not only tarnish Pakistan's 
reputation, but the CIA and the U.S. President will also 
be exposed." 
 
 
White