DCM REVIEWS FULL SLATE OF BILATERAL COOPERATION

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 NEW DELHI 001532 SIPDIS SIPDIS STATE FOR DS, INL, S/CT, SCA, G/TIP E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/25/2016 TAGS: PREL ASEC PTER PINR PBTS MOPS KDEM KISL PHUM PK, IN SUBJECT: DCM REVIEWS FULL SLATE OF BILATERAL COOPERATION WITH NEW HOME SECRETARY REF: A. 06 NEW DELHI 7199 ¶B. 06 NEW DELHI 8398 ¶C. 06 NEW DELHI 8239 NEW DELHI 00001532 001.2 OF 002 Classified By: DCM Geoff Pyatt for Reasons 1.4 (B, D) ¶1. (C) In a courtesy call on new Home Secretary Madhukar Gupta on March 30, the DCM recalled their long-standing friendship, briefed Gupta on the many ways that the USG works with the Home Ministry to advance our bilateral agenda, and sought Gupta's help to improve Embassy interactions with his Ministry. Gupta, who previously served as Joint Secretary for Kashmir at the Home Ministry, was a scholar at the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard, and most recently served as Secretary for Youth and Sports, is a rising star in the Indian system who is well and favorably disposed toward working with the USG. We have high hopes for his tenure. A GOOD GUY -------------- ¶2. (C) DCM and Gupta agreed that the USG-GOI relationship had come a long way in a short period of time, with bilateral cooperation at its highest ever level. DCM lauded Gupta's personal role in making the transformation happen, reminding him of his work with several senior USG officials during his previous assignments. FOCUS ON TERROR THREATS -------------- ¶3. (C) DCM introduced RSO, MCCA, and D/POLCOUNS, and explained that all had urgent business to conduct with the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA). RSO's was most compelling, because terrorist tactics such as the Parliament attack in 2001 and attacks on our facilities in Jeddah and Damascus led us to assess that compound incursion/invasion was our most compelling threat. While Delhi police provide superb perimeter security, GOI procedures do not permit them to breach our compound without MHA permission, irrespective of events. DCM asked Gupta to provide RSO with a contact with whom he could work out a suitable protocol for dealing promptly and with a minimum of protocolary fuss in the worst eventualities. DCM added that the USG shared India's concern with regard to the evolving pattern of terror threats within India, and had embarked on a broad effort to work more closely with India to neutralize the threat. THE MHA IS THE PROBLEM -------------- ¶4. (C) Gupta asked why existing levels of contact had not already solved such working-level problems. DCM responded that while MEA, MOD, and a host of other GOI ministries had begun interacting much more robustly with the Embassy, the MHA had bucked the trend by curtailing contacts. D/PolCouns briefed on how one of Gupta's successors in the Kashmir job had flatly told him she was not permitted to meet with him due to counter-intelligence concerns. Such an environment, added DCM, precluded the working level contact with MHA that NEW DELHI 00001532 002.2 OF 002 could smooth away many problems. Gupta, in the job less than a week, promised to examine the matter and get back to us. MANY REASONS TO TALK -------------- ¶5. (C) DCM listed the many areas in which the Embassy deals with MHA. The MCCA wanks names and D/POB for terrorist suspects so he could enter them into the consular lookout database. RSO seeks better DS-ATA cooperation. LEGATT and ORA are prepared for a broad range of new cooperative initiatives, but lack IB buy-in. USAID works with MHA on governance. The INL Office liaises with MHA on trafficking-in-persons, and needs its continued help to build a strong program in conjunction with UN efforts to enhance enforcement. The Political Section sought a broad exchange of views on terrorism and insurgency, plus cooperation in the context of the CT Joint Working Group. PA could use MHA assistance to make Fulbright visa issuances less problematic. Put bluntly, added CG, "we're stymied" by MHA's seeming intransingence in many areas. DCM reminded Gupta that it was not so long ago that MHA was one of our best interlocutors in Delhi. NOTE: DCM's intervention with the Home Secretary on TIP follows interventions by him (Reftels) with the Union Cabinet Ministers for Labor and for Women and Child Development. Ref C is U/S Dobriansky's intervention with the Foreign Secretary on TIP. END NOTE. LET'S SEE -------------- ¶6. (C) COMMENT: Gupta is one of the good guys, and he listened patiently as we listed our many woes. While his Minister, Shivraj Patil, may be part of the problem at MHA, we hope Gupta will exert enough influence on that vast and important bureaucracy that we can go back to enjoying excellent and productive contacts with one of the most important Ministries in India. END COMMENT. MULFORD