GOI PREFERS BILATERAL GOVERNMENT MECHANISM ON

S E C R E T SECTION 01 OF 02 NEW DELHI 000317 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/17/2016 TAGS: PARM PREL CBW ETTC MTCRE IR IN SUBJECT: GOI PREFERS BILATERAL GOVERNMENT MECHANISM ON PROLIFERATION CASES REF: A. STATE 2371 ¶B. 05 MUMBAI 2418 Classified By: PolCouns Geoff Pyatt for Reasons 1.4 (B, D) ¶1. (S) Summary: MEA Joint Secretary (Disarmament and International Security) Hamid Ali Rao told PolCouns on January 17 that the GOI is uncomfortable with the direct communication between our Consulate in Mumbai and the Sabero company, and requested that we instead use a bilateral government mechanism to work through these sanctions. Rao was thankful for the Embassy's engagement on the Sabero case (Refs A and B),but repeated the claim that the sanctions are unjustified and the complaint that the GOI needs additional information on end users in Iran to support its legal action. He assured PolCouns that India's new non-proliferation laws would catch any possible future cases of potential proliferation. End Summary. All Communication Through GOI -------------- ¶2. (S) In a January 17 meeting, MEA Joint Secretary for Disarmament and International Security Hamid Ali Rao told PolCouns that the direct communication between our Consulate in Mumbai and the Sabero company could "jeopardize the government's regular non-proliferation procedures." He suggested that since Sabero is cooperating with the GOI, "all exchanges of information should be done through the existing bilateral government mechanism" instead of the current dialogue between ConGen Mumbai and Sabero. PolCouns agreed to relay this message and asked Rao for further clarification on the best way forward. In a subsequent conversation, J/S Jaishankar clarified that MEA is uncomfortable with our "tactics" in the case but agrees with the objective of identifying a mechanism to allow a legal review of the Sabero case. Request to Lift Unjustified Sanctions -------------- ¶3. (S) Rao commented that the Sabero company is cooperating and has agreed to suspend any further shipments, but in the GOI's view, has not committed any violation of India's export control laws. Therefore, he characterized the actions against the company as "unjustified" and asked for further USG assistance in lifting the sanctions. Rao predicted that India's new non-proliferation law would catch any future cases of this kind. He also repeated his request for further information on the end users in Iran. Comment: Same Objective, but Less Effective -------------- ¶4. (S) This request for bilateral government communication on a unilateral sanction against a company is the GOI's way of staying in the loop on these cases. Although this is a less effective way of getting information, Joint Secretary (Americas) S. Jaishankar stressed that New Delhi is committed to making sure that the Sabero company is not engaged in any illegal transactions and working with the USG to eventually lift the sanctions. In addition to the added complication of requesting all information about a sanctioned company through the government bureaucracy, it will also likely become a NEW DELHI 00000317 002 OF 002 cumbersome template for working through all future sanctions against Indian companies. However it does serve to de-conflict/harmonize our messages with the GOI. ¶5. (U) Visit New Delhi's Classified Website: (http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/sa/newdelhi/) MULFORD