G-8 SEEKS TO COORDINATE CT EFFORTS WITH INDIA

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 NEW DELHI 006254 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PREL PGOV PTER PINR KTFN EFIN IN RS SUBJECT: G-8 SEEKS TO COORDINATE CT EFFORTS WITH INDIA ¶1. (U) Summary: G-8 officials met on August 31 to discuss joint efforts to strengthen counter-terrorism cooperation with GOI in light of a rising trend in terrorist attacks in recent years. Most meeting participants stressed India's interest in gaining international cooperation against Pakistani terrorists. The Russian chair said that while New Delhi has signaled its willingness to build joint efforts against terrorism, cooperation still suffers from the Indian perception that double standards place Pakistani militants responsible for attacks in India at a lower priority than efforts against Al-Qaida. Russian officials see an upcoming visit (around October 6 to 13) by the G-8 Counter Terrorism Committee (CTED) as an opportunity to step up engagement and mitigate India's concerns. End Summary. ¶2. (U) Russian officials hosted a meeting with representatives of the G-8 on August 31 in New Delhi to coordinate efforts to build a better working relationship with India on counter-terrorism issues with India. They pointed to a rising trend in terrorist attacks against soft targets since 2005 in India including major attacks since in Bangalore, Varanasi, New Delhi, and Mumbai. Although Russian officials said New Delhi historically has preferred to handle terrorist issues internally, after the Mumbai attacks they say India has sought new joint efforts with the international community to combat terrorism on Indian soil. They believe this represents a new opportunity to engage with India on counter-terror issues. Russian officials said, however, that cooperation with New Delhi still suffers from an Indian perception that double standards place Pakistani militants, including those responsible for the recent attacks in Mumbai, at a lower priority in the war on terrorism than efforts against Al-Qaida. The Russian delegation urged G-8 members to work toward a joint convention on terrorism and step up engagement with India largely to combat this perception. ¶3. (U) Representatives of Italy and the European Commission suggested that the G-8 could work with India to pass new money laundering legislation, an effort that would help strengthen India's ability to stem civilian terrorist finance flows. European Commission officials are willing to offer India technical assistance to improve India's legislation designating terrorist groups and their supporters -- assistance the European Commission already provides to ten new European Union members. ¶4. (U) Embassy PolCouns outlined U.S. efforts to engage India via training, a counter-terrorism dialogue, and against terrorism financing. German and UK officials discussed India's efforts to gain more information about terrorists coming into India from Pakistan -- including whether there were new patterns of terrorists entering through Bangladesh. French representatives suggested that new connections between Kashmir-focused terrorist groups and global terrorists justified greater grounds for elevating our cooperation with New Delhi. Canadian officials echoed French comments -- pointing out that of 17 Canadians recently arrested for plotting terrorist acts in North America, most of them had trained in madrassas in Pakistan. ¶5. (U) Comment: Prime Minister Singh's efforts to build international support behind condemnation of Pakistan after they July 11 Mumbai attacks appear to have gained some ground with European officials. That said, the G-8's efforts represent an opportunity to gain greater cooperation from India on a variety of counter-terrorism initiatives. This venue may also be appropriate in pushing India to implement anti-money laundering legislation and meeting the NEW DELHI 00006254 002 OF 002 requirements to gain membership in the Financial Action Task Force (FATF),an active international body aiming to curb money laundering activities. MULFORD