GOI: NO BASHAR VISIT PLANNED, BUT SYRIA MUST DO

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 NEW DELHI 007797

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/05/2015
TAGS: PREL PGOV PTER IN SY IZ
SUBJECT: GOI: NO BASHAR VISIT PLANNED, BUT SYRIA MUST DO
MORE

REF: A. STATE 185426

B. DAMASCUS 5248

C. NEW DELHI 6841

Classified By: DCM Robert Blake, Jr. for Reasons 1.4 (B, D)


1. (C) Summary: India's West Asia Envoy C Gharekhan told us
he is unaware of plans for Syrian President Bashar al-Asad to
visit New Delhi, but agreed that Damascus is eager to exploit
any opportunity for high-level visits to dispel its deep
isolation. Syria must do more for its own sake and Iraq's
sake to stop insurgent traffic across its border, he
stressed. Gharekhan plans to visit the Middle East in
November, and believes that India can support US-led efforts
for Israeli-Palestinian peace. End Summary.

Asad's Isolation
--------------


2. (C) DCM and Poloff called on India's West Asia Special
Envoy C Gharekhan on October 6 to deliver Ref A demarche
regarding a possible visit to New Delhi of Syrian President
Bashar al-Asad, emphasizing US concerns that Asad not be
allowed to exploit high-level meetings to dispel Syria's
international isolation. Gharekhan commented that Syria,
while "very isolated" even from its Arab neighbors, will
exploit any visit, including Indian Minister of State for
External Affair E Ahamed's recent "pro-forma" trip to
Damascus (Ref B),to appear more acceptable to the
international community. However, he stated that he had
heard of no plans for Bashar to visit New Delhi.

Damascus at a Crossroads
--------------


3. (C) Gharekhan observed that Syria is at a crossroads, and
Damascus must decide in which direction to turn. While
Bashar may have started out with reformist intents, he is
unable to "disentangle himself" from Syria's old guard. In
the meantime, Gharekhan said, Syria's policies have estranged
it from Saudi Arabia and Lebanon, and Bashar has found that
Egypt's Mubarak is too preoccupied with domestic concerns to
assist Syria.


4. (C) Agreeing that Syria has not been helpful in Iraq,
Gharekhan recounted that during his June visit to Damascus
(Ref C) he emphasized to Foreign Minister Shara that Syria
has a stake in Iraq's stability and must prevent transit of
fighters and weapons across its borders into Iraq. When
Shara pushed back, saying Syria was doing its "best,"
Gharekhan told him that "those who matter," meaning the
Iraqis, do not accept that, and Syria needs to do better for
the sake of its own relations with its neighbors. Gharekhan
added that during his visit to Iraq in May, Iraqi officials
had told him that they knew the meeting places and times
where Syrian intelligence agents briefed foreign fighters en
route to Iraq. He said he urged Shara to ask the Iraqis for
this information if Shara was interested in stopping
insurgents from using Syrian territory.

Israeli-Palestinian Peace Process
--------------


5. (SBU) Gharekhan stated that he has no plans for travel to
Damascus, but will make a trip to Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, Cairo,
and possibly Amman in early November, with the goal of giving
impetus to the Israeli-Palestinian peace process. India is
not looking for a "big role" in the peace process, he said,
but believes that it could play a supporting role in
American-led efforts for peace.

6. (U) Visit New Delhi's Classified Website:
(http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/sa/newdelhi/)
Mulford