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