US embassy cable - 05NEWDELHI103

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 NEW DELHI 000103 
 
SIPDIS 
 
USDA/FAS/FAA/CALEXANDER/MCONLON 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/04/2015 
TAGS: PREL, CASC, AEMR, EAID, MASS, SOCI, EAGR, ID, CE, MV, Tsunami Relief 
SUBJECT: INDIA TSUNAMI SITREP: JANUARY 5 
 
REF: NEW DELHI 8233 
 
Classified By: PolCouns Geoff Pyatt.  Reasons 1.4 (B,D). 
 
1.  (SBU) Summary: Consular officers in India, through 
nightly call-backs in response to tsunami-related missing 
persons inquires, have closed more than 350 cases in the last 
48 hours and expect to bring the number below 200 by January 
6.  Following the Ambassador's January 4 press conference, 
reports misquoted SciCouns as having said that formal 
proposals for US-India collaboration are on the table. 
Although observers in New Delhi have been enthusiastic about 
Indian assistance for Sri Lanka, at least one prominent 
politician has expressed concern over aid making its way to 
the LTTE.  The military announced that relief operations are 
"98 percent complete" in Andaman and Nicobar, but the number 
of Indian deaths continues to increase.  End Summary. 
 
Consular: India-Wide Effort to Locate Americans 
--------------------------------------------- -- 
 
2.  (U) All consular officers across India have been engaged 
in a nightly, after-hours effort to re-contact persons in the 
US who have inquired about loved ones, making every effort to 
locate the missing.  As a result of this country-wide 
approach, consular India has closed more than 350 cases in 
the last 48 hours, and hopes to have the list of open cases 
down to less than 200 by Thursday morning, at which point New 
Delhi will transfer responsibility for all open cases back to 
ConGen Chennai.  Reconsolidating responsibility should help 
focus consular's efforts and avoid potentially dropped-balls 
as officers work to account for the remaining missing.  All 
New Delhi consular officers lent to other posts in the region 
(including one who was vacationing in Phuket and stepped in 
to provide ACS support) are expected back on the visa line by 
Monday, January 10. 
 
Tsunami Science 
 
SIPDIS 
--------------- 
 
3.  (U) At the Ambassador's January 4 briefing, the press 
demonstrated considerable interest in tsunami alert/warning 
systems and US collaboration with India to develop sea level 
monitoring systems (reftel).  The "Times of India" misquoted 
SciCouns stating that "we had a proposal from India to set up 
a network of tidal ocean level gauges in the Bay of Bengal," 
but in fact we have not yet received any formal Indian 
proposals for cooperation in this area.  On January 6, the 
Mission expects to learn more about the team of experts that 
Department of Science and Technology Secretary VS Ramamurthy 
plans to call together to advise the GOI on monitoring 
systems. 
 
Watching Where the Aid Goes in Sri Lanka 
---------------------------------------- 
 
4.  (U) While GOI disaster relief for Sri Lanka has been a 
source of pride for Indians, Janata Party president 
Subramanian Swamy has expressed concern over which parts of 
the country New Delhi's assistance reaches.  On December 30, 
Swamy reportedly requested the GOI to ensure that its aid 
does not make its way to the LTTE or the Tamil Rehabilitation 
Organization (TRO), which he considers an LTTE front.  He 
also urged the US to look into the role of the TRO in the 
United States as a conduit for aid to the LTTE. 
 
Death Toll in India Climbing 
---------------------------- 
 
5.  (U) The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) reported that 
through January 4, 9,575 Indians had died as a result of the 
tsunami, an increase of nearly 100 from the previous day. 
 
SIPDIS 
The MHA also revised the number of missing to 5,918 (from 
5,681 on January 3), of which 5,801 are from the Andaman and 
Nicobar Islands. 
 
Andaman and Nicobar: "98% Done" 
------------------------------- 
 
6.  (U) Despite the number of individuals still missing, Vice 
Admiral Raman Puri, Chief of the Integrated Defense Staff 
(IDS), was quoted in local press reports as having announced 
that 98 percent of immediate relief work in the Andaman and 
Nicobar Islands had been completed.  The GOI noted that 
search and rescue and relief operations are coming to an end 
and the next phase of recovery and reconstruction operations 
are underway.  International NGOs are still prohibited from 
operating in the Nicobar Islands, which are militarily 
sensitive. 
 
The Neighbors Pitch in For India 
-------------------------------- 
 
7.  (C) On January 4 media reports indicated that Indian 
helicopters, which cannot fly from the eastern part of the 
country to the Andaman and Nicobar Islands alone, have flown 
via Burma.  The GOI confirmed this to DAO, noting that eight 
MI-17 helicopters stopped for refueling in Rangoon before 
proceeding to the Islands.  India has also reportedly 
received similar support from Bangladesh for helicopter 
operations from Bangladesh. 
 
Only the Beginning in Indonesia 
------------------------------ 
 
8.  (C) India's relief for Indonesia, Operation Gambhir, is 
just getting underway, according to the Ministry of Defense. 
Two Indian Navy vessels, a survey ship, the INS Nirupak, 
which the GOI converted to a hospital, and the INS Khukri, 
which left from Chennai on December 31 carrying tents, 
blankets, emergency rations, and emergency medical supplies, 
have reached or will soon arrive in Aceh, the MEA reported. 
Defense officials told DAO that Indian assistance for 
Indonesia will be expanded. 
MULFORD