PROLIFERATION SECURITY INITIATIVE: TO CONTINUE

C O N F I D E N T I A L JAKARTA 002626 SIPDIS SIPDIS DEPT FOR EAP, EAP/MTS, T, ISN (SIDLER),PM, L/OES (ROACH) USPACOM FOR J6 P.PEDROZO E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/18/2017 TAGS: PREL PGOV MARR PTER ID SUBJECT: PROLIFERATION SECURITY INITIATIVE: TO CONTINUE DIALOGUE, GOI PROPOSES SEMINAR REF: JAKARTA 1185 Classified By: Pol/C Joseph L. Novak, reasons 1.4(b)(d). ¶1. (U) Please see Action Request in Para 3. ¶2. (C) According to our Australian PSI contact, the Indonesian government plans to propose a one-day seminar to discuss the Proliferation Security Initiative (PSI) and other non-proliferation matters. The seminar, which the GOI would host, would be held in Jakarta in late November or early December, and would include the seven countries (the USG, among them) that participated in a joint PSI demarche organized by Australia in April (reftel). According to what we understand, participants in the seminar could also include countries which were not part of the joint demarche, as well as "stakeholders" interested in the issue, such as members of the legislature (DPR),academics, NGOs or officials from other GOI agencies. Participating countries would be invited to send international experts and provide input on the final agenda. The Australian Embassy provided Mission this information in its role as coordinator of the effort to convince the Indonesian government to enlist in PSI. ¶3. (C) ACTION REQUEST: The Indonesian proposal is a welcome signal that the GOI wants to discuss PSI. Mission recommends that the USG support the Indonesian proposal and requests Department's concurrence. One caveat is in order, however. The GOI routinely includes disarmament in nonproliferation discussions and could seek to do so here. With these factors in mind, if Department concurs, Mission would work with concerned embassies, in particular the Australians, and DEPLU to flesh out an agenda that would advance core PSI objectives. HUME