NEPAL'S DEPUTY PM REQUESTS UNGA MEETING WITH

C O N F I D E N T I A L KATHMANDU 002153 SIPDIS SIPDIS DEPT FOR SCA/INS NSC FOR EMILLARD E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/07/2016 TAGS: PREL NP SUBJECT: NEPAL'S DEPUTY PM REQUESTS UNGA MEETING WITH PRESIDENT BUSH REF: A. KATHMANDU 2007 ¶B. KATHMANDU 2087 Classified By: Ambassador James F. Moriarty. Reasons 1.4 (b/d). ¶1. (C) On August 7, Acting Foreign Secretary Bhagirath Basnet conveyed Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs K.P. Oli's request to meet President Bush during Oli's planned visit to the U.S. in mid-September (ref A) for the UN General Assembly (UNGA)(the Deputy PM was ill so Basnet delivered Oli's request). Basnet said that Oli would be free to visit Washington, D.C. during his September 18-25 visit to the U.S. and would welcome meeting with President Bush in either New York or Washington, D.C. ¶2. (C) The Ambassador agreed to convey Oli's request to Washington with a positive recommendation, but cautioned Basnet that the President rarely had individual meetings with foreign officials lower than head of state. The Ambassador added that the President was usually too busy at UNGA to meet many people. The Ambassador reminded Basnet that we had already sent a request to Washington for high-level meetings on the margins of the UNGA (ref B) and that he had already told Oli that going to Washington around that time would not be a good idea because senior officials schedules were full. COMMENT -------------- ¶3. (C) While we are fully aware how slim the possibility is, meeting with the President would show continued strong support from the United States during Nepal's fragile and uncertain transition to multi-party democracy; Oli is both articulate and fervently anti-Maoist. If the GON's peace talks with the Maoists prove unfruitful or collapse entirely in the coming weeks, the government will need all the bucking up and external support it can get. Also to bear in mind is the fact that Prime Minister G.P. Koirala, the critical linchpin of the government is seriously ill and unable to travel to the UNGA meetings. DPM Oli could well be the next Prime Minister, and is already an important figure in his own right. Therefore, Post strongly urges a meeting with the President be given serious consideration. MORIARTY