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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 06 NEW DELHI 000601 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR NP, AC, PM 
 
STATE FOR INR/MR 
 
STATE FOR SCA/INS, PM/CBM, PM/PRO 
 
STATE FOR SCA/PPD, PA/RRU 
 
STATE FOR AID/APRE-A 
 
USDOC FOR 4530/IEP/ANESA/OSA FOR BILL MURPHY 
 
E.O. 12958:N/A 
TAGS: KMDR KPAO PGOV PREL IN
SUBJECT: SPECIAL MEDIA REACTION: PRESIDENT OBAMA'S 
ANNOUNCEMENT OF A NEW STRATEGY FOR AFGHANISTAN/PAKISTAN 
 
This cable reports on relevant media reaction from 
India's English and large non-English press. 
 
SUMMARY: The President's March 27 announcement of the new 
U.S. strategy for Afghanistan and Pakistan received 
extensive news and editorial coverage in India.  The 
President's remark that the U.S. will not "provide a 
blank check" was seen as a warning to Islamabad and 
importantly as a vindication of what India has been 
saying all along about Pakistan's lack of commitment to 
meaningful change and to dialogue with India.  The 
Administration's intent to forge an international 
stakeholders' contact group struck the right chord with 
editorialists.  At the same time, the President's remark 
that the U.S. must pursue constructive diplomacy with 
both India and Pakistan was seen as "reminiscent of the 
Clinton years that dwelt on South Asia as a nuclear 
flashpoint."  END SUMMARY. 
 
¶1. "TARGETING THE REAL PROBLEM," editorial in March 30 
Centrist, nationally circulating, pro-Congress Party 
English daily THE HINDUSTAN TIMES: "There is no greater 
strategic threat to India than the struggle that today 
encompasses southern Afghanistan and, increasingly, 
swathes of northwestern Pakistan.... India is, thus, among 
the countries that has the greatest stake in the Afghan 
policy review announced by US President Barack Obama 
Friday... Much of the policy echoes what India has long 
argued about Afghanistan. First, the review recognizes 
that the troubles in Afghanistan and Pakistan are two 
sides of the same coin. Second, no player in the 'Afpak' 
region should assume the US will leave the region in a 
hurry. Mr. Obama has appeased his party's left by 
mentioning a 2011 departure date for US troops, but has 
conditioned it on the elimination of al-Qaeda. Third, the 
review outlined a stepped-up civilian reconstruction 
program, having more Afghan hands take over the country's 
security and broaden Afpak diplomacy to include even non- 
neighboring States like India and Turkey. This is 
sensible. Afghanistan is and must be more than a US 
problem. But ultimately the military and diplomatic 
burden of stabilizing Afghanistan can only be borne by 
the US.... The review speaks of increasing aid to Pakistan 
and encouraging Indo-Pakistan "constructive diplomacy". 
Indians can take umbrage at one sop to Pakistan - the 
failure to mention 26/11." 
 
¶2. "OBAMA'S AFPAK STRATEGY," editorial in March 30 Left- 
influenced, Chennai based, nationally circulating English 
daily THE HINDU: "With only 4,000 additional American 
military trainers announced for the ongoing war in 
Afghanistan but $7.5 billion for Pakistan over the next 
five years, President Barack Obama's new AfPak policy 
seems more about outsource than surge. True, a 
substantial increase in actual combatants had already 
been announced by Mr. Obama and his predecessor. But 
Washington has clearly recognized the limitation of 
throwing more and more men into the battlefield when 
their efforts are undermined by the deadly combination of 
poor governance in Kabul and willful indifference in 
Islamabad. In his remarks, Mr. Obama noted...that his 
 
NEW DELHI 00000601  002 OF 006 
 
 
administration was not giving Islamabad a blank cheque.... 
The Pakistani establishment will have to do more.... Even 
if there seems to be greater clarity in Washington about 
where the root of the problem in Afghanistan lies, 
President Obama's somewhat gratuitous reference to the 
need to pursue constructive diplomacy with both India and 
Pakistan suggests the new administration continues to buy 
the line that the Kashmir issue is somehow constraining 
Islamabad's ability to do more on the Afghan front.... 
Internal reform in Pakistan and Afghanistan, coupled with 
a wider regional approach involving India, Iran, Russia, 
China, and other players is what will ultimately allow 
the international community to win what is otherwise a 
losing military battle in Afghanistan." 
 
¶3. "WAR ON TERROR?" editorial in March 30 Independent, 
Centrist, nationally circulating English daily THE INDIAN 
EXPRESS: "The good news from the much touted review, 
announced by Obama last Friday, comes from his diagnosis 
of the problem. He has taken on board much of India's own 
analysis of the challenges confronting the world in the 
badlands between the Indus and the Hindu Kush. He agrees 
with India that Pakistan is the source of Afghanistan's 
insecurity and the world must act together to cure 
Islamabad of its political malaise. In recognizing that 
the borderlands between Pakistan and Afghanistan 
constitute the single most important threat to global 
peace and security, arguing that Islamabad is part of the 
problem rather than the solution, and asking India to 
join an international concert in managing the Aft-Pak 
region, he has made welcome departures from the American 
policy towards South Asia since September 11, 2001. The 
bad news for India, however, comes from the lack of a 
fundamental change in the operational dynamic of the US 
strategy towards Pakistan. Cut to the bone, Obama's 
approach is no different from that of George W. Bush. 
Obama continues to rely on the Pakistan army to deliver 
on American and international goals in Afghanistan." 
 
¶4. "MORE DOLLARS FOR PAKISTAN," editorial in March 30 
Nationalist, pro-BJP, North India circulating English 
daily THE PIONEER: "Announced on Friday, March 27, US 
President Barack Obama's 'comprehensive, new strategy for 
Afghanistan and Pakistan' is, broadly speaking, a 
pragmatic document. It takes an honest view of the 
challenges that the war in Afghanistan and Pakistan 
entail and of the porosity of the border. Crucially, it 
frees the battle against Al Qaeda and its cohorts from 
the shackles - political and financial - of the Iraq 
war.... The promise of aggressively ramping up recruitment 
and training in the Afghan National Army and Afghan 
National Police is noteworthy. If delivered, it will 
strengthen the federal Government in Kabul - irrespective 
of who is President after the Afghan election later this 
year - and will go a long way in tackling provincial 
militias, many of them Taliban-related but some only 
freelance debris of the old Northern Alliance.... There is 
a strong message for the Pakistani military establishment 
as well... Notwithstanding some tough talk and subtle 
semiotics, the fact is the American President still 
places his faith in the desire and ability of the 
 
NEW DELHI 00000601  003 OF 006 
 
 
Generals in Rawalpindi to defeat the jihad at their 
doorstep." 
 
¶5. "OBAMA ON AF-PAK: LET ACTION FOLLOW," editorial in 
March 29 Centrist, nationally circulated English daily 
THE ASIAN AGE: "The new US strategy for the Afghanistan- 
Pakistan region...has little new to say on some of the 
key problems that have dogged the western effort in 
bringing peace to the AfPak sector.... The new American 
leader does not wish to be in the position of having to 
write blank cherubs, as was the case earlier. The $1.5 
billion to be given annually to Islamabad for the next 
five years will be contingent on showing results. Much of 
this is old hat, really. Washington's weariness with 
Islamabad's double-dealing goes back some years, but the 
US vision, such as it is, makes it impossible for it to 
stop incentivising the Pakistani military. That really is 
the fundamental problem in the US approach to the 
problem, although America is not about to acknowledge 
this. The American leader has spoken of getting started a 
UN Contact Group on Afghanistan and Pakistan. This is an 
important step at the level of thought.... The second 
conceptual break is with regard to involving regional 
countries in helping to solve the terrorism/ Taliban/ Al 
Qaeda problem that has come to threaten regional and 
international security. Thus, Iran, China, Russia, and 
India now get an official look-in." 
 
¶6. "FROM DE-HYPHENATION TO DUAL-HYPHENATION," op-ed by 
Nationalist strategic affairs editor Siddharth 
Varadarajan in March 30 Left-influenced English daily THE 
HINDU: "Whether valid or not, the Obama administration 
and the rest of the world see a link between Afghanistan 
and the India-Pakistan relationship. This is a problem 
New Delhi must address. Just as they were celebrating the 
end of their own hyphenation with Pakistan and the rise 
of a new geolexical construct, 'Aft-Pak', Indian 
policymakers find themselves staring down the barrel of 
'dual hyphenation' - the link the Obama administration is 
making between the ongoing military instability on the 
Afghanistan-Pakistan border and the unsettled 
relationship between New Delhi and Islamabad.... If dual 
hyphenation is a bitter pill for the Indian establishment 
to swallow, there are elements of the new strategy which 
might also provide it comfort. For one, the emphasis on 
accountability on the Pakistani side for the enhanced aid 
being promised.... The Obama administration may not be off 
the mark in seeing a link between 'AfPak' and 'IndoPak' 
but it is looking at the wrong end of the map. Regardless 
of whether a settlement is reached in Kashmir, the 
Pakistani military looks at the roads and hospitals and 
training that India is providing in Afghanistan as New 
Delhi's cultivation of "strategic depth." 
 
¶7. "OBAMA'S ANTI-TERROR POLICY: PAKISTAN WILL HAVE TO 
SHOW RESULTS," editorial in March 30 Centrist, North 
Indian English daily THE TRIBUNE: "US President Barack 
Obama is ready with his strategy to fight to the finish 
Al-Qaida, the Taliban and the terrorist outfits 
associated with them. The contours of the anti-terrorism 
drive he unveiled on Friday shows a departure from the 
 
NEW DELHI 00000601  004 OF 006 
 
 
policy pursued by the previous administration under Mr. 
George W. Bush. The US will not hesitate in taking the 
help of the countries in the region, including India and 
Iran. The Obama administration will provide massive 
financial and other kinds of assistance to Pakistan, 
where most of the terrorist masterminds are believed to 
be hiding, but not without strings attached.... The US will 
have to force Pakistan to abandon its policy of entering 
into any kind of deals with terrorists and extremists. 
The ISI must be made to delink itself from the terrorist 
outfits it created or nurtured at different stages." 
 
¶8. "OBAMA AFGHAN APPEAL TO INDIA," analysis in March 28 
Centrist, East India circulating THE TELEGRAPH: "In part 
this was an appeal to his trans-Atlantic European 
partners intended at shaming them into contributing more 
in the Afghan effort. And in part, this was also a plea 
to India, China, Russia, the Central Asian countries and, 
significantly, to Iran, to get involved in Afghanistan. 
But above all, Obama's strategy for Afghanistan and 
Pakistan is not open-ended unlike George W. Bush's... The 
appeal does not mean that there will be Indian boots on 
the ground in Afghanistan...but a larger exposure of India 
in Afghanistan is likely to follow despite Pakistani 
objections if the US follows through on the suspicions 
of... Richard Holbrooke that the Taliban leadership is 
sheltered around Quetta in Pakistan. A huge departure 
from Bush's policy is the major role Obama is assigning 
to the UN." 
 
¶9. "OBAMA'S WAR FOCUS NOW ON PAKISTAN," editorial in 
March 30 Centrist, nationally circulating English daily 
MAIL TODAY: "US President Barack Obama's comprehensive 
new strategy to fight the war in Afghanistan has just got 
a new target - Pakistan. Almost all the significant 
action points he outlined in his address on Friday 
morning related to that country. That is inevitable 
considering the American assessment that the Al- Qaeda 
leadership - Osama bin Laden and Ayman al- Zawahiri are 
almost certainly hiding in areas of Pakistan bordering 
Afghanistan.... Islamabad was compensated handsomely for 
its duplicity. It got massive US military and economic 
assistance and was reimbursed in cash for expenses for 
undertaking operations in the Federally Administered 
Tribal Areas. But now Mr. Obama has made it clear that 
Pakistan can no longer have this 'blank check'. This is 
Pakistan's last chance. We can only hope that this 
realization has dawned in the capital Islamabad, as well 
as Rawalpindi where the Army is headquartered." 
 
¶10. "POLICY REBOOT," op-ed article by strategic affairs 
analyst C Uday Bhaskar in the March 30 Centrist Mumbai- 
based English language daily DNA: "The more significant 
part of the Obama speech is that it provides some degree 
of clarity about US aims and objectives in the Bush led 
global war on terror after 9/11....  There are two 
references to India in the Obama speech -- one in 
relation to the familiar 'South Asian nuclear neighbors' 
and the other about including India in the Contact Group 
for Aft-Pak. While the former formulation is reminiscent 
of the Clinton years that dwelt on South Asia as a 
 
NEW DELHI 00000601  005 OF 006 
 
 
nuclear flashpoint and caused some dismay in India, the 
unstated linkage should be monitored in the months ahead. 
The Pak military has long sought to link regional nuclear 
stability, Kashmir and the terrorism phenomenon, which 
India has sought to refute....  This will pose a 
challenge to India and here India's inclusion in the 
Contact Group offers valuable possibilities.  Pakistan is 
at the core of the current challenge to regional and 
global stability and it is encouraging that the Obama 
speech recognizes this. But a new policy is a work in 
progress and must be monitored objectively and 
dispassionately." 
 
¶11. "AMERICA'S DILEMMA," editorial in March 29 right-of- 
center, nationally circulating and widely read DAINIK 
JAGRAN Hindi daily: "Announcing a new strategy for the 
Aft-Pak region, President Barack Obama Friday announced 
plans to provide Pakistan $1.5 billion non-military aid 
annually for the next five years. It is clear that the 
U.S. does not know what to do with this country, which 
has become a den of terrorists. What an irony for the 
U.S. that it has to pay a country it does not trust! 
Obama's statement that the U.S. will not provide a blank 
check clearly indicates that he does not believe that 
Pakistan has been entirely honest. If Obama's 
administration fails to understand the nexus between 
official Pakistani elements and terrorists, then it will 
make the same mistake as the Bush Administration. How can 
Pakistan help the U.S. in Afghanistan when it can't fight 
terror on its own soil? Instead of chasing Al Qaeda and 
Taliban only, America has to also focus on outfits like 
Jaish and Lashkar who target India." 
 
¶12. "OBAMA'S INITIATIVE," editorial in March 30 Centrist, 
North Indian, Pro-Congress Party DAINIK HINDUSTAN Hindi 
daily: "During his election campaign Barack Obama said 
that Pakistan was misusing American aid and needs to be 
more accountable. Announcing the U.S. administration's 
new strategy for the Afghanistan-Pakistan region on 
Friday, President Obama said the U.S. will not provide a 
blank cheque to Pakistan any longer. Obama's strategy 
clearly shows that the U.S. now sees Pakistan as a part 
of the problem and wishes to see the world unite to solve 
the problem.... It is admirable that Obama is thinking of 
including the rest of the world in finding a solution to 
the Aft-Pak problem. There is no doubt that the United 
States will now have to think global, and think long- 
term.... For a long-term solution of the Aft-Pak problem, 
the U.S. will have to work toward strengthing democracy 
in Paistan. As for India, it has an important role to 
play in resolving the Aft-Pak problem. It is the only big 
country in the region that is interested in seeing this 
problem solved." 
 
¶13. "AMERICA WILL NOW CORNER PAKISTAN TO GET TO THE 
TALIBAN"  editorial in the March 28 Centrist Gujarati 
daily DIVYA BHASKAR.  "The way the Taliban are advancing 
in Pakistan poses a serious threat to India's security as 
well.  Even a superpower like America has now realized 
how Herculean is the task of confronting Taliban and Al 
Qaeda....  Obama's utterances are a wake-up call for 
 
NEW DELHI 00000601  006 OF 006 
 
 
Pakistan.  Now Pakistan will have to prove that it is not 
sheltering terrorists and extremists and will have to 
come clean on its intentions in the war against 
terrorism.  President Obama's straightforward approach 
indicates the U.S. favors measures to rein in Pakistan 
and make it accountable." 
 
¶14. "PROBLEM AT THE ROOTS," editorial in March 30 
Independent Bengali daily ANANDABAZAR PATRIKA: "How will 
the jihad extremists be contained by supplying more arms 
and providing more financial assistance to Pakistan? 
There is an established tradition of both these 
components being continually smuggled to extremists since 
the era of Russian occupation. So, the success of the 
Obama Administration's Aft-Pak policy remains doubtful." 
 
¶15. "PRESIDENT OBAMA & THE WAR ON TERROR", editorial in 
March 29 right-of-center, south Indian Urdu daily MUNSIF: 
"President Obama has spelled out his new policy for 
Afghanistan. This policy also includes Pakistan, since 
annual aid is to be given to Pakistan. However, the aid 
comes with a dash of warning that if Pakistan does not 
eliminate the menace of terrorism and the breeding ground 
of terrorists on its soil, this task shall be taken up by 
none other than United States itself. In a nutshell, 
Obama has actually toed the line of former President Bush 
to continue with the global war on terror. Despite 
everything, the world is still prepared to accept the 
supremacy of America. For some, it seems to be a matter 
of prestige to line up with America in its war on terror, 
although this so-called war on terror is actually a war 
against the Islamic world." 
 
¶16. "AID TO PAKISTAN", editorial in March 29 right-of- 
center, Hyderabad Urdu daily SIASAT: "President Barack 
Obama has clearly spelled out his views towards the two 
most significant nations of the subcontinent - India & 
Pakistan. Since he came to power, Obama has been taking 
all steps very cautiously. Irrespective of his stand as 
far as Pakistan is concerned, the policies with respect 
to Afghanistan appear to be set on terra firma. He 
revealed that a comprehensive plan of action will be 
prepared in the context of Afghanistan and Pakistan. 
India has always stood against terrorism prevalent in 
both Afghanistan & Pakistan. That is perhaps why Obama 
has included India in its special group as an ally in the 
subcontinent.  President Obama has been taking effective 
steps in the right direction to make a world free of 
terrorism, since day one. It is hoped that his plans & 
policies will bear fruit." 
WHITE