(C) UK-INDIA SUMMIT: BUILDING ON THE STRATEGIC

S E C R E T LONDON 007250

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NOFORN
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STATE FOR SCA/INS, EUR/UBI

E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/11/2016
TAGS: PREL KNNP ETRD PTER IN AF UK
SUBJECT: (C) UK-INDIA SUMMIT: BUILDING ON THE STRATEGIC
PARTNERSHIP


Classified By: PolMinCouns Maura Connelly; reason 1.4 (b, d)


1. (S/NF) SUMMARY: Prime Ministers Blair and Singh met in
London October 10 for the third annual UK-India summit since
the bilateral strategic partnership was launched in 2004.
This was not intended as a summit of breakthrough agreements,
but rather of building on the multi-faceted relationship.
The leaders agreed their governments would take more
practical steps together on counter-terrorism, clean coal
technology, and managing diversity to combat Muslim
radicalization. Singh said he had "credible evidence" of
Pakistani involvement in the Mumbai terror attack, but did
not give details. The visit had a strong trade and
investment focus (the UK and India are each other's third
largest foreign investor). In response to Singh's request,
the UK is likely to send a junior minister to the November
18-19 Regional Economic Conference on Afghanistan. In
another sign of the growing importance of the bilateral
relationship, UK Foreign Secretary Beckett plans to spend a
week in India in early November. END SUMMARY.

(U) A BUSY DAY
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2. (C) James Paver, Head of FCO's India Section, gave Poloff
a readout October 11 of the previous day's third annual
UK-India summit since the bilateral strategic partnership was
launched in 2004. He said the day had been very busy and the
atmospherics very good throughout. It was clear that the two
Prime Ministers held each other in high esteem. The program
included a tete-a-tete at Number 10 Downing Street that ran
over by half an hour; a ministerial plenary; a working lunch;
a business meeting with about 10 senior CEOs from each side
to discuss opportunities and barriers to bilateral
investment; and a joint appearance at the closing session of
a day-long bilateral "investment summit" (the UK and India
are each other's third largest foreign investor). PM Singh
also met separately with Chancellor Gordon Brown (Paver had
no readout yet from that meeting) and with Foreign Secretary
Margaret Beckett. On October 11, Singh was due to receive an
honorary doctorate from Cambridge University (giving him both
a first degree and an honorary doctorate from each of Oxford
and Cambridge). Participants in the ministerial plenary were:

- UK: PM Blair, Foreign Secretary Margaret Beckett, Trade
and Industry Secretary Alistair Darling, and Environment
Secretary David Miliband.

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- India: PM Singh, Trade Minister Kamil Nath and Minister of
State for External Affairs Anand Sharma.

(C) AGREEING TO MORE COOPERATION
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3. (C) This summit was intended to build on the existing
range of ties rather than to produce splashy new agreements,
Paver said. The ministerial plenary reviewed an impressive
range of topics reflecting the multi-faceted relationship -
including health care, labor and employment, and migration.
Notable outcomes included agreement that the two governments
would do more to cooperate in practical ways against
terrorism, including exchanging lessons learned and
consulting on how to ensure protection of upcoming major
sporting events (Commonwealth Games 2010 in India, Summer
Olympics 2012 in London). The Indian delegation was keen to
discuss the protection of vital installations, including
nuclear facilities. Twice, PM Singh over-ruled objections
from his officials and agreed to cooperate with the UK:

- To build a model power plant using clean coal technology,
with funding support from both the UK and the EU. GOI
officials had objected that the technology is still immature
and untested, therefore unsafe. Another complication, Paver
explained, is that India's domestic coal supply is of poor
quality; the whole point is to try to develop technological
solutions so that even that dirty coal can be used in an
environmentally clean way.

- To exchange experiences in managing diversity, with a focus
on combating radicalization of the two countries' Muslim
minorities. Singh expressed concern about growing

radicalization even outside India's immediate region, notably
in Malaysia.

(U) PAKISTAN
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4. (S/NF) The two leaders had a long exchange on
Indo-Pakistani relations. Singh stressed that he is ahead of
domestic public opinion and cannot bring his people along if
there continue to be incidents like the Mumbai terror attack.
He told Beckett that he has "credible evidence" of Pakistani
involvement in that attack, but did not provide details. He
wanted the U.S. and UK to put pressure on Pakistan and
monitor its activities especially along the Kashmir Line of
Control. He also worried about Nepal and Bangladesh being
used as terrorist infiltration routes into India.

(U) AFGHANISTAN
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5. (C) Singh asked Blair to send a minister to the Regional
Economic Conference on Afghanistan, to be held in New Delhi
on November 18-19. Paver said HMG is likely to send a junior
minister (i.e., sub-Cabinet level).

(U) THE NUCLEAR FILE
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6. (C) The timing of the summit meant that inevitably, North
Korea's reported nuclear test was a topic of discussion; it
also featured prominently in the two leaders' joint press
conference. The Indians were concerned that the North Korean
issue could affect perceptions in the U.S. Congress and
complicate passage of the necessary legislation on the
U.S.-India Civil Nuclear Initiative. They asked for HMG's
continued help with the Nuclear Suppliers Group. The British
replied that India needs to show progress on concluding IAEA
safeguards. PM Singh claimed progress is being made in that
regard.

(U) MORE VISITS IN THE OFFING
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7. (C) In Beckett's meeting with Singh, she discussed her
planned trip to India. She wants to spend a week there in
early November, taking as her theme the "globalization of
responsibility." Singh liked the idea, commenting that there
are effective mechanisms to manage the global economy, but no
comparable global mechanisms for political management. Paver
said that the Foreign Secretary's visit is still in the early
planning stages; he assumed she would go to New Delhi and
Mumbai, and guessed her third destination would be Hyderabad,
because it is both the headquarters of the influential
Deobandi Islamic movement and a technological center. In
addition to Beckett's long visit, several other Cabinet and
sub-Cabinet level ministers from the UK are due to travel to
India in the next couple of months, with a similar number of
Indian ministers coming here.

(U) COMMENT
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8. (C) Beckett's plan to spend a whole week in India is yet
another indication of the UK's conviction that the time is
right to embrace the world's largest democracy and build a
long-term strategic partnership with India. It is no
coincidence that David Cameron chose India as the destination
for one of his first overseas trips since becoming leader of
the opposition Conservative Party.

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