STRONG INDIAN VIEWS ON EAST ASIA SUMMIT

C O N F I D E N T I A L NEW DELHI 002141

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/17/2015
TAGS: PREL BM CB LA VM IN ARF
SUBJECT: STRONG INDIAN VIEWS ON EAST ASIA SUMMIT

REF: A. KUALA LUMPUR 919

B. NEW DELHI 8015

Classified By: PolCouns Geoff Pyatt. Reasons 1.4 (B, D)


1. (C) In the strongest language we have heard so far from
the GOI on the East Asia Summit (EAS),MEA Joint Secretary
(Southeast Asia) Mitra Vashishta asserted that if India is
left out, New Delhi will resort to "other means." Meeting
with PolCouns and Poloff on March 17, she insisted on a
status for India equal to that of the Plus Three partners
(Japan, Korea, China),calling for an ASEAN plus Four
arrangement, with an agenda distinct from that of ASEAN plus
One or Three. Vashishta argued that the "world recognizes
India," therefore the country must be included, and
elaborated "other means" for further cultivation of India's
CMLV (Cambodia, Burma, Laos, Vietnam) "clients" to support
the GOI bid.


2. (C) Possibly referring to one of the three options from
the March ASEAN senior officials' meeting (Ref A),ASEAN plus
Three plus India, Australia, and New Zealand, Vashishta
asserted that India cannot be "clubbed" with Australia.
Vashishta also rebuffed the only ASEAN plus Three possibility
for the EAS, stating that "they already have an ASEAN plus
Three."


3. (U) Speaking at a March 17 CSIS-sponsored conference on
Southeast and East Asia, former Indian Ambassador to Laos SD
Muni remarked that New Delhi considers CMLV the "new ASEAN,
strategically and economically distinct from the rest."
Echoing Vashishta's comments after the November 2004 ASEAN
plus One summit (Ref B) about India's "special relationship"
with those four countries, Muni described this as an area
with greater space for Indian involvement in the areas of
security, energy, and economic and technological assistance.

Comment
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4. (C) The East Asia Summit presents something of a test
case for India's aspirations in Asia. The GOI view on the
EAS has evolved from dismissal to alarm at the possibility of
being excluded from a new Asia club. Realizing that the EAS
is likely to happen, and that it is not necessarily a given
that it will include India, the GOI may turn up its lobbying
efforts, a tactic the Singapore High Commission had
previously criticized New Delhi for not pursuing (Ref B).
MULFORD