PM DEUBA REQUESTS POTUS MEETING IN WASHINGTON

C O N F I D E N T I A L KATHMANDU 000708

SIPDIS

NSC FOR MORIARTY

E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/08/2012
TAGS: PREL PTER NP
SUBJECT: PM DEUBA REQUESTS POTUS MEETING IN WASHINGTON

REF: KATHMANDU 672

Classified By: Ambassador Michael E. Malinowski, Reasons 1.5(b),(d)


1. (C) Summary. Prime Minister Deuba has asked for a POTUS
meeting in Washington during his May 8-13 visit to the U.S.
to attend the UN Special Session on Children. If Deuba
cannot meet with POTUS, he will not travel to DC due to
domestic political concerns, but still hopes for a SecState
meeting in New York. Terrorism - international, regional,
and within Nepal - would top the agenda of a Bush-Deuba
meeting. Post endorses the PM's request. End Summary.

PM Deuba Asks for White House Call
--------------


2. (C) Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Arjun Jung
Bahadur Singh called in Ambassador April 9 to relate Prime
Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba's request for a meeting with
POTUS in Washington during Deuba's May 8-13 visit to the U.S.
Deuba will travel to New York for the UN Special Session on
Children May 8-10. The PM would prefer to visit Washington
May 11-12, but would be willing to fly to DC even during the
Special Session if that were the only time a White House
meeting could be arranged. Singh added that if a POTUS
meeting were not possible, the PM would cancel the Washington
leg of his trip out of concerns that his domestic political
critics would use his failure to get a White House meeting
against him. (Note: As reported Reftel, Deuba continues to
fight off efforts by a powerful faction within his own party,
headed by the former PM, to unseat him. End Note.) However,
Deuba would still hope to meet with Secretary Powell in New
York, Singh stated.

Terrorism to Top Agenda
--------------


3. (C) Terrorism would top the agenda of PM Deuba's White
House meeting. Nepal was an early - and ardent - supporter
of the U.S. initiative against global terrorism, and has been
working hard to attract international attention to its own
problems with domestic terrorism in the form of an ongoing
and increasingly violent Maoist insurgency. Currently, Deuba
holds the chair of the South Asian Association for Regional
Cooperation (SAARC),and the discussion would thus touch on
regional issues, including the India-Pakistan conflict and
Afghanistan.


4. (C) Deuba plans to depart Nepal May 6 with a rest stop in
Europe on the way to New York. Following his stay in the
U.S., Deuba plans to stop over in Brussels for consultations
with Nepalese diplomats before continuing his journey home.

Comment: Domestic Concerns
--------------


5. (C) As State Minister Singh made clear, Deuba feels that
his enemies would make hay if he traveled to Washington
without meeting the U.S. President. A POTUS meeting would
raise his standing both in the party and the wider polity,
and would underline USG support for Nepal's imperiled
democracy.

Recommendation: Post Endorses Nepal's Request
--------------


6. (C) Post endorses Prime Minister Deuba's request for a
White House meeting. Nepal is the only country on the Global
Patterns of Terrorism supplemental list that faces a
non-Islamic terrorist threat; support for Nepal reinforces
the USG's assertion that we oppose terrorism in all its
forms. The meeting would also raise the standing of Deuba -
a friend of the U.S. - at home at a time when the
continuation of the incumbent government is a prerequisite
for a sustainable response to the evolving security threat
posed by the insurgents.
MALINOWSKI