Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
05NEWDELHI8682
2005-11-15 11:53:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy New Delhi
Cable title:  

AMBASSADOR TAHIR-KHELI URGES GOI LEADERSHIP ON

Tags:  PREL KDEM PHUM IN UNSC GOI 
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C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 06 NEW DELHI 008682 

SIPDIS

FOR THE SECRETARY; U/S BURNS
USUN FOR JOHN BOLTON
IO FOR A/S KRISTEN SILVERBURG

E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/14/2015
TAGS: PREL KDEM PHUM IN UNSC GOI
SUBJECT: AMBASSADOR TAHIR-KHELI URGES GOI LEADERSHIP ON
AREAS OF UN REFORM CONSENSUS

REF: NEW DELHI 3973

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

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 06 NEW DELHI 008682

SIPDIS

FOR THE SECRETARY; U/S BURNS
USUN FOR JOHN BOLTON
IO FOR A/S KRISTEN SILVERBURG

E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/14/2015
TAGS: PREL KDEM PHUM IN UNSC GOI
SUBJECT: AMBASSADOR TAHIR-KHELI URGES GOI LEADERSHIP ON
AREAS OF UN REFORM CONSENSUS

REF: NEW DELHI 3973

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


1. (C) Summary. In her second round of consultations with
senior MEA officials on November 14, Special Advisor on UN
Reform Ambassador Shirin Tahir-Kheli discussed areas of
common consensus on UN reform and urged the GOI to take
leadership and build coalitions of support before the review
of the 2005 Outcome Document in December. The GOI found a
"fair degree of congruence" on USG priorities, such as
management reform, the Human Rights Council, the
Peacebuilding Commission and the Convention on Terrorism.
Areas of divergence included UN mandates, oversight of the
Secretariat, as well as certain details of the Human Rights

SIPDIS
Council and the Peacebuilding Commission, but in general the
GOI appeared more open to collaboration than during the first
round of consultations in May. In response to Ambassador
Tahir-Kheli's request for Indian leadership on reform issues,
MEA appealed for greater public USG support for development
reform and of course pressed India's campaign for UNSC
membership. The GOI continues to cooperate with the USG on
adopting the Convention Against Terrorism, and suggested ways
to approach Egypt, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia over
disagreements. Shankar did not describe any new initiatives
to increase support for the G-4 before December. While there
were differences over reform proposal details, the GOI seemed
open to our request for more public support on USG
priorities. End Summary.

Management Reform: Agreement on Three of Five Proposals
-------------- --------------


2. (C) MEA Additional Secretary (UN and International
Security) Meera Shankar, leading an MEA delegation from the
UN/Political, UN/Economic and Americas divisions, told
Ambassador Tahir-Kheli that on management reform, the GOI
supports the creation of an Independent Oversight Advisory
Committee, the establishment of an Independent Ethics Office,
and the strengthening of the audit and investigation

functions of the Office of Internal Oversight Services, but
disagrees on some aspects of the review of mandates and the
expansion of the Secretary-General's authority. After
thanking Shankar for the chance to consult with the GOI,
Ambassador Tahir-Kheli opened the meeting underlining the
importance of balance progress on all aspects of UN reform by
December, with special emphasis on management reform.
Shankar said that the GOI is not taking "positions in stone,"
and its position will evolve through a "consultative
process." Given USG and GOI congruence on most areas of
management reform, Ambassador Tahir-Kheli stressed that the
US would benefit from India joining countries such as
Britain, France and Japan to take the lead in making the case
for reform in this crucial area.


3. (C) Shankar stated that the GOI agrees on the importance
of reviewing mandates that are over five years old, but
believes that all member states should have a chance to give
their own perspectives on each mandate's utility. Therefore,
instead of giving the authority to review mandates to the
Secretary, the GOI wants the review to fall under the General

SIPDIS
Assembly. Joint Secretary (United Nations/Political) Sanjiv
Arora specified that the USG may not think that older
mandates such as the Palestine Committee or the Resolution on
Western Sahara are important, but the involved parties should
"have a say" in these issues. Shankar concluded that the GOI
has no fundamental opposition to the USG position on
reviewing mandates, but believes the process should be more
"inclusive."


4. (C) Regarding the Secretary-General's (SG) authority,
Shankar asserted that the General Assembly needs to maintain
some oversight over the Secretary-General in order to keep
the position accountable to the member states. Ambassador
Tahir-Kheli explained the importance of giving greater
authority to the SG to redeploy staff and resources and
revitalize the Secretariat. She reminded the MEA delegation
of Indian Ambassador to the UN Nirupam Sen's recent statement
in the fifth committee that the General Assembly needs to
have oversight over the Secretariat. Shankar stressed that
this was not a blanket statement and that levels of authority
should depend on the issue in order to create a balance
between micro-managing the SG and giving him authority to
make day-to-day decisions.

Peacebuilding Commission: Devil in the Details
-------------- -


5. (C) Shankar expressed the GOI's overall support for the
establishment of a Peacebuilding Commission to increase the
effectiveness of the UN system and help countries
successfully transition to post-conflict stability, but
stated that New Delhi differs on a few of the details. The
GOI wants countries to have "national ownership" of the
peacekeeping process in its borders, thinks the number of
Organizing Committee (OC) members from ECOSOC to be "equal or
greater than" those from the UNSC, and hopes the Commission
will report to the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC). She
also explained the need for a stronger consultation process
between troop donating countries and the UNSC. Both Shankar
and Ambassador Tahir-Kheli agreed on other details and felt
the commission should take on the role of an
inter-governmental advisory body. Ambassador Tahir-Kheli
stressed the importance of the Security Council for the
Peacebuilding Commission's work given the UN Charter's
delegation of peace and security issues to the UNSC. Shankar
hoped that the proposal for the Peacebuilding Commission
would receive enough member country support to begin working
after the December UNGA meetings. Appreciating this support,
Ambassador Tahir-Kheli stressed the need for balance progress
in other areas such as human rights and management reform,
and requested the GOI speak out in support of all these
issues.


6. (C) After expressing GOI support for the Peacebuilding
Commission, Shankar added that countries with large numbers
of peacekeeping forces should have "national ownership" of
the peacekeeping process because they are in the best
position to know what kind of assistance is necessary.
Ambassador Tahir-Kheli responded that ideally the USG would
like countries to keep ownership, but this concept is
complicated by the phenomenon of failing states that are not
in a position to exercise ownership. In many cases the
government has fallen apart, she commented, and therefore
trying to keep the state in charge of the process would delay
the response time and decrease peacekeeper's effectiveness.
"When the national authority is demolished, this creates a
threat to peace and security," Ambassador Tahir-Kheli stated.
Shankar noted that national ownership is "not an absolute
concept, but needs to be reflected in a balanced manner."


7. (C) Shankar underlined the GOI belief that OC membership
needs to include at least as many members from ECOSOC as from
the UNSC and that the Peacebuilding Commission should report
to ECOSOC. Ambassador Tahir-Kheli commented that UNSC and
ECOSOC membership is reflected equally in the current
circulating draft, and also includes members from troop donor
and financial contributor countries. J/S Arora also asked
that the number of members from ECOSOC to be at least as many
as the number from troop and finance contributing countries.
Shankar questioned whether members of the OC could also be
elected from UNGA. Ambassador Tahir-Kheli explained that
this was unlikely, as it would cross the lines between UNGA
and UNSC authority. She also clarified that the
Peacebuilding Commission will need to report to the Security
Council while it is seized with the crisis.


8. (C) Asserting that current consultations between troop
donor countries and the UNSC were inadequate, Shankar
appealed for a better consultative process. She recalled
that the Eritrean ban on helicopter flights had left 1500 GOI
peacekeepers in the area unable to carry out regular
surveillance measures. The UNSC statements issued after
closed-door meetings were not effective, and one troop
contributor was threatening to withdraw if there was not an
improvement. Ambassador Tahir-Kheli thanked Shankar for
bringing this problem to her attention and responded that she
will follow up on establishing a regular mechanism for
peacekeeping consultations. PolCouns also expressed US
appreciation for India's participation in police/paramilitary
training at COPESU, and flagged the possibility of a follow
on training to be provided at India's Peacekeeping Institute.


Human Rights Council: On Board, but Bigger
--------------


9. (C) The GOI supports USG goals to establish a Human
Rights Council (HRC),but hopes for a council of
approximately fifty members and is unsure about the proposal
for the HRC to set standards through a code of conduct for
members. Shankar stated that the GOI views the HRC primarily
as a coordinator for all UN human rights efforts with a
special emphasis on technical support. The HRC will also be
a forum for dialogue to encourage greater respect for human
rights and address gross violations. The GOI thinks it is
more practical for the HRC to function as a subsidiary of
UNGA as opposed to a standing body and to meet six weeks
total in two settings. It prefers that members are elected
in a simple majority based on geographic distribution, but is
open to the USG proposal for a two-thirds majority as a means
of raising the threshold for membership. Shankar added that
the GOI is open to the final number, but imagines a group of
about fifty in order to be on par with other councils such as
ECOSOC. Rather than creating a code of conduct for human
rights, the GOI wants to leave development of norms to the
Third Committee. She called Ambassador Tahir-Kheli's
proposal for increasing resources in order to strengthen the
High Commission's capacity a "step in the right direction."
Ambassador Tahir-Kheli asked the GOI to take a more public
stand on its support for the establishment of a Human Rights
Council before the end of the year, emphasizing the success
of the UN Democracy Initiative and the wider resonance of GOI
support for a HRC.

Development: GOI Asks for Public USG Support
--------------


10. (C) Shankar observed that "mainstreaming human rights is
a USG UN reform goal, but mainstreaming development is a top
GOI goal" and asked the USG to likewise express their support
for development reform on areas of consensus. She added that
the UN is focused on its regulatory role to the detriment of
its developmental role. Her suggestions included:
mainstreaming development issues, giving the UN a political
direction in the Hong Kong World Trade Organization
Ministerial Meeting, recognizing the innovation in aid
distribution by frontloading aid to meet UN Development
Goals, and supporting efforts on irrevocable debt repayment
where it poses threats to these goals. Ambassador
Tahir-Kheli responded that as the President's address to the
UNGA indicated, the US supports development, but also
believes in the reciprocal responsibilities of recipients.
She stated that the USG supports development in the 2005
Outcome Document.

Terrorism: Working Together for the Convention
-------------- --


11. (C) Ambassador Tahir-Kheli thanked the GOI for its
continued cooperation on the convention against terrorism and
discussed USG efforts to persuade unhelpful countries not to
block the convention. She asked the GOI to use its influence
with Egypt's representatives in New York on this goal.
Shankar observed that Saudi Arabia was in the best position
to speak with Egypt and Pakistan, and suggested that the USG
use the SAG's interest in a regional Counter-Terrorism Center
to leverage support for the Convention. Ambassador
Tahir-Kheli welcomed this suggestion and agreed to take this
idea back to the Department for follow-up. The GOI still
hopes to adopt the convention without any amendments by the
end of the year.

UNSC Reform: GOI Still Pushing, but No New Plans
-------------- --------------


12. (C) Shankar reiterated the case for Indian membership on
the UNSC and suggested US support could be a great
"deliverable" for President Bush's trip to India in early

2006. She explained that India could "contribute
substantially to the UN and be helpful to the US," and that
US support would be "appropriate with the warming of the
relationship." The GOI maintains solidarity with the G-4 and
continues to consult with the African Union for support.
Shankar did not lay out any new initiatives, but wistfully
hoped to have enough support by December. J/S Arora added
that India realizes its individual support has been growing
(adding that another co-sponser had signed off on the G-4
proposal),and keeping this in mind, "the GOI will have to
take stock of the debate." Ambassador Tahir-Kheli raised the
issue of Indian leadership across the board given the current
unique opportunity.

General Assembly Revitalization
--------------


13. (C) Highlighting another GOI priority, Shankar requested
support for "revitalization of the UN General Assembly
through a greater role in policy formulation and UN
decisions." Ambassador Tahir-Kheli responded that the USG
could not support UNGA mandate review because requiring 191
countries to sign off on every review would not be fast or
meaningful. She suggested that every member state will have
to make certain compromises, but the USG is looking for
countries like India to lead and build coalitions of support.
Shankar commented that New Delhi agrees with "the US
interest in creating a representative and effective
institution to meet modern challenges." She stressed the
multiple areas of consensus, and concluded that India and the
US have "different perspectives but shared objectives."

New Delhi, New York and New Audiences
--------------


14. In a follow-up meeting later that day, J/S (Americas) S.
Jaishankar underlined that the GOI has to appeal to several
different audiences at the UN (in order to win support for
UNSC membership) and consider the political cost of its stand
on UN reform. He commented that in order to garner
widespread support for its UNSC candidacy, the GOI has to
maintain its historical constituency among the Non-Aligned
Movement even while moving towards a much more pragmatic
foreign policy aligned with the US. He used this predicament
to explain why the Indian Permanent Representative's
statement may seem at odds with the changing foreign policy
outlook in New Delhi. He flagged India's vote on Iran at the
IAEA, its backing for the Democracy Fund, and its vote in
support of the US on Cuba's Guantanamo resolution as three
recent steps that had attracted criticism from India's NAM
constituency. Jaishankar agreed that India should be a
leader in pushing for USG proposals in human rights and
management reform, but stressed that there "are no no-cost
decisions."

Comment: What Holds Back Indian Support
--------------

15. (C) At a November 14 roundtable dinner in Ambassador
Tahir-Kheli's honor, foreign policy analysts speculated that
Indian support for USG UN reforms should be politically
feasible, but asked what benefits the GOI derived from taking
a more public stance. As the Congress leadership continues
to face domestic political flak for its vote against Iran at
the IAEA, they questioned whether risks from further
association with the US would be worth the uncertain chance
that support would help India's candidacy for the UNSC.
Ambassador Tahir-Kheli explained that UN reform benefits all
member states. She went on to describe different reform
issues at some length, as it was apparent that even this
otherwise informed group lacked knowledge on USG priorities.
Further, the negative mood in Congress means that timelines
for reform are tight. Countries in leadership positions,
such as India, would benefit from support of meaningful
reform at the UN.

Participants
--------------


16. (C) Participants in the MEA meetings were as follows:

US:

Ambassador Shirin Tahir-Kheli, Senior Advisor to the
Secretary for UN Reform

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Geoff Pyatt, PolCouns
Courtney Kramer, Poloff (notetaker)

Indian:

Meera Shankar, Additional Secretary, UN and Interntional
Security

S. Jaishankar, Joint Secretary, Americas
Sanjiv Arora, Joint Secretary, UN Political
Sangeeta Mann, Director, UN Political


17. (U) Ambassador Tahir-Kheli has cleared this message.
November 15 meetings with Foreign Secretary Shyam Saran will
be reported septel.


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