U.S. - INDIA CIVIL NUCLEAR COOPERATION INITIATIVE

C O N F I D E N T I A L ANKARA 001458 SIPDIS SIPDIS STATE - PLEASE PASS TO NPT COLLECTIVE E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/20/2021 TAGS: ENRG KNNP PREL TU SUBJECT: U.S. - INDIA CIVIL NUCLEAR COOPERATION INITIATIVE REF: A. STATE 34761 ¶B. STATE 42857 ¶C. ANKARA 1325 Classified By: Pol-Mil Counselor Timothy Betts, reason 1.4 b/d. ¶1. (C) We delivered ref a and b demarches to Turkish MFA Disarmament and Arms Control First Secretary Serhan Yigit on March 17. Yigit appreciated the demarches and stated that MFA is interested in learning more about the agreement and how it could effect the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT). Yigit expressed concern that other nations could view this as a way around the NPT. Drawing from the talking points, we stressed that bringing India into the nonproliferation mainstream is important to strengthen nuclear safety. ¶2. (C) Yigit added that there is interest in the GOT as to the status of the agreement between Turkey and the United States for cooperation in the civil nuclear area. Turkey is completing a significant investigation into various energy sources, including nuclear. There is hopes that since the US has some of the best technology, US firms will be able to participate in Turkey's nuclear development. Finally, he found it interesting that the US is having difficulty ratifying an agreement with Turkey, an NPT-compliant country, while it was able to reach an agreement with India, a country that worked around the NPT. Visit Ankara's Classified Web Site at http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/eur/ankara/ WILSON