FURTHER INDIAN THOUGHTS ON UNCHR61

C O N F I D E N T I A L NEW DELHI 002262 SIPDIS DEPT FOR WHA/CCA, DRL/MLA, IO/SHA, AND SA/INS E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/23/2015 TAGS: PHUM KDEM PINR IN CU NP SUBJECT: FURTHER INDIAN THOUGHTS ON UNCHR61 REF: A. STATE 42847 ¶B. STATE 49957 ¶C. STATE 45975 ¶D. NEW DELHI 2186 ¶E. NEW DELHI 2220 Classified By: PolCouns Geoffrey Pyatt. Reasons 1.4 (B, D) ¶1. (C) Following up on our recent demarche on Cuba (Refs A and B),PolCouns and Poloff met with MEA Joint Secretary (UN Political) Hamid Ali Rao and incoming Joint Secretary (UN Economic and Social) Manjeev Puri on March 24 to review our UNCHR priorities. Recalling the recent statements by the PM and Foreign Secretary (Ref E) regarding India's commitment to liberal democracy in its foreign policy, PolCouns urged the GOI to use the ongoing UNCHR session to side with the USG in supporting democratic objectives. Emphasizing India's "moderating" role among Non-aligned Movement and developing states, Rao responded that India would like to reach consensus with the US especially on a resolution on the right to development, but reiterated continuing GOI opposition to country-specific resolutions, including Cuba. (Note: As discussed Ref D, a Washington approach may help emphasize our Cuba position. End Note.) Rao reiterated that India's major contribution in the UNCHR context is its moderating influence on others. ¶2. (C) PolCouns noted that the Community of Democracies (CD) represents another opportunity for US-India cooperation that fits the newly-energized GOI mission of promoting democracy. Rao agreed that both the CD and the UNCHR are venues that India uses to advance democracy, but stated that India's role, though useful, is "different from that of other democracies," highlighting India's historically strong ties with the developing world. ¶3. (C) Rao also outlined New Delhi's concern that UNCHR mandates have become "too broad, overlapping, and impossible to fulfill." He stated that the GOI would like to reform the mandate of the UNCHR to eliminate these weaknesses, observing that such a reform would improve the work of the Commission. We will continue to engage the GOI on UNCHR reform to identify areas of agreement (Ref C). New Joint Secretary for UN Economic and Social: Bio Note -------------- -------------- ¶4. (SBU) We were joined in the meeting by Manjeev Puri, who assumed the position of Joint Secretary (UN Economic and Social) on March 23. The brother of Indian Ambassador to Geneva Hardip Puri, former Joint Secretary (US and Canada), Puri was last posted in Muscat. His previous MEA assignments included four years as Deputy Chief of Protocol, in which role he interacted intensively with White House personnel on advance work for President Clinton's India visit. Puri spoke warmly of his past interaction with Embassy officers, and appeared eager to revive his official contacts with the US. MULFORD