182185 12/10/2008 13:39 08NEWDELHI3116 Embassy New Delhi CONFIDENTIAL "VZCZCXRO2757
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SIPDIS
DEPT FOR S/CT
E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/10/2018
TAGS: PGOV, PREL, PK, IN
SUBJECT: MUMBAI ATTACKS UPDATE: INDIA DISMISSES PAKISTAN'S EFFORTS, DEFENDS ITS ACTIONS AT U.N.
Classified By: POLCOUNS Ted Osius for Reasons 1.4 (B, D)
1. (C) Summary: On December 10, Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) Joint Secretary for Pakistan, Afghanistan and Iran T.C.A. Raghavan met with PolCouns to discuss the current status of Indo-Pak cooperation two weeks after the Mumbai attacks. Criticizing Pakistan's decision not to send to India the Chief of Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), and defensive about its actions at the UN Security Council this week, the Government of India is skeptical that Pakistan's recent moves represent real progress. End Summary.
2. (C) Responding to reports that the GOP intended to send a delegation to New Delhi, Raghavan said the Government of India has not ruled out receiving the delegation if it were led by Pakistani Foreign Minister Qureshi, who would be accompanied by an ISI director, but was skeptical that a delegation without ISI Chief Ahmad Pasha would accomplish much. According to Raghavan, sending Qureshi vice Pasha would be the second-string option and would be seen by the Indian public as a minimal effort on Pakistan's behalf to cooperate on the investigation into the Mumbai attacks.
3. (C) PolCouns expressed dismay at GOI's actions at the UN Security Council on Tuesday, when it called publicly for designation of Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD), explaining that this would complicate the U.S. effort to get an even more ambitious list of designations through the UNSC 1267 Sasnctions Committee. Raghavan defended the action and dismissed such concerns, arguing that the U.S. and Indian proposals are not mutually exclusive and that it did not matter which the 1267 Committee acted on first. The Government of India hopes this will further pressure Pakistan to act while showing the Indian public that its government is ""getting things done,"" according to Raghavan. He explained that if China and Pakistan intend to cooperate, designations would move forward, but if not, then Pakistan and China would be able to find another reason to obstruct progress.
4. (C) According to the MEA, Pakistan's recent efforts to go after the perpetrators of the Mumbai attacks are perceived as insufficient. The Indians feel that the Pakistanis are reacting in the way they did following the attack on the Indian parliament in 2001, when ""the usual suspects were rounded up and then released three months later"", according to Raghavan. When asked what GOI would be satisfied with, Raghavan said it is very important for Pakistan to hand over to India those individuals on the Red Corner Notices (RCN) list which India has provided to Pakistan several times, including at the Joint Anti Terror Mechanism Special Session on 24 October 2008. But Raghavan remained skeptical about Pakistan's ability to cooperate sincerely. Offering as an example the recent detention of Jaish-e-Muhammad chief Masood Azhar and arrest of Lashkar-e-Tayyba's chief commander Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi, Raghavan asked rhetorically why ISI had not detained these two individuals earlier when GOI requested it. According to Raghavan, ISI claimed Masood Azhar was a fugitive and that they were unable to find him, a claim he found unacceptable as it was clear from Pakistani press reports that Azhar could easily be found.
5. (C) Raghavan was not concerned about Nawaz Sharif's comments over the last several days. They were to be expected from an opposition politician and ""more of the same."" While conceding that President Zardari has had some major setbacks during his short tenure in office and that Sharif could play a complicating role as he has traditionally been close to Islamic parties, Raghavan said he did not expect to see a change in Pakistan's government in the near future.
MULFORD
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