'Holbrooke gave global warming dimension to Indo-Pak tension'

The book 'Obama's War', written by noted journalist Bob Woodward, says that Holbrooke made the remarks at a White House meeting chaired by President Barack Obama.
"In one discussion about the tension between Pakistan and India, Holbrooke introduced a new angle. 'Theirs is a global warming dimension of this struggle, Mr President'," he said.

"His words baffled many in the room," wrote Woodward in his latest book that hit the stands today.

"There are tens of thousands of Indian and Pakistani troops encamped on the glaciers in the Himalayas that feed the rivers into Pakistan and India," he said.

"Their encampments are melting the glaciers very quickly. There's a chance that river valley in Pakistan and perhaps even India could be flooded," Holbrooke had said, according to the book.

"After the meeting, there were several versions of one question: Was Holbrooke kidding?" Woodward wrote. "He was not."

Holbrooke subsequently detailed his concerns in a written report. "The diplomat – sensing he was on the outs with Obama – was trying as hard as he could to say something distinctive that would impress the President," Woodward said, adding it was not until well into the Obama presidency that Holbrooke learned definitively how much the President did not care for him.

According to the book, soon after his appointment as the Special Representative, he told the Pakistani Ambassador to the US, Hussein Haqqani, that he would deal with India, even when the country was not listed in his mandate.

"When it came to India – a country outside of Holbrook's portfolio but central to Pakistan's concerns – Holbrooke said in his theatric baritone, 'I will deal with India by pretending not to deal with India,' Woodward wrote in his book running into 417 page