SUGGESTIONS FOR AREAS OF FOCUSED COOPERATION IN

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 NEW DELHI 005053 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/19/2017 TAGS: PREL PGOV KPKO KUNR USUN IN SUBJECT: SUGGESTIONS FOR AREAS OF FOCUSED COOPERATION IN THE UN WITH INDIA REF: A. NEW DELHI 02916 ¶B. STATE 141727 Classified By: POLCOUNS Ted Osius for reasons 1.4 (b,d) ¶1. (C) Summary. In preparation for Assistant Secretary Silverberg's November 30 meeting with Additional Secretary K.C. Singh, Post would like to suggest several UN-related issues ripe for closer collaboration with the GOI. These include peacekeeping, religious freedom, UN budget reform, energy security, maritime security, and global disaster relief. End Summary. ¶2. (C) Ref B described the concept of selecting 2-3 UN issues for future focused cooperation between the U.S. and India. As Additional Secretary for International Organizations K.C. Singh prepares to depart India for a trip to the U.S. which includes a meeting with A/S Silverberg, Post offers the following list of potential issues to consider. Post does not consider this list to be all-inclusive. We merely offer some ideas in the hope of stimulating the decision-making process. ¶3. (C) Peacekeeping Operations: The U.S, as a UN Security Council member and the largest contributor of UN funding, and India, as one of the largest contributors of UN troops, are natural allies in the global peacekeeping effort. The USG and GOI have come together for seven annual bilateral Peacekeeping Joint Working Groups (PKOJWG) to share information and experiences and explore potential areas of cooperation. The GOI maintains a superb international training institution for peacekeeping, the Center for UN Peacekeeping (CUNPK) in New Delhi, which has hosted training events for UN peacekeepers from numerous other countries. During the June 19 US-India PKOJWG, IO PDAS James Warlick encouraged the GOI to consider closer cooperation with the US-led Global Peacekeeping Operations Initiative (GPOI),and the GOI confirmed that it will host the joint GPOI/UN-created Senior Mission Leader Course (SMLC) training event at the CUNPK in January 2008 (reftel). Should we choose this as an area for focused cooperation, we could encourage a closer marriage between GPOI, the UN, and India,s own peacekeeping training programs. Additionally, we could partner with perhaps Japan/Australia to merge the capabilities of developing India with the resources of more developed countries. We could also discuss synergies for potential peacekeeping operations. ¶4. (C) Religious Freedom: The USG and the GOI have voted in concert on this issue in the past, and both the U.S. and India are respected worldwide for their religious tolerance. Particularly at this time, the U.S. post-9/11 and the second largest Muslim country in the world (one well-known imam here actually counts India as the largest Muslim country) share a desire to find common ground between moderate Islam and "Islamophobia." Perhaps building on the goals of the UN Democracy Fund and the Community of Democracies, the U.S. and India could collaborate on programs to bring greater attention to issues of religious freedom, and greater assistance to areas where such freedoms are constrained. ¶5. (C) UN Budget Reform: India has not been particularly cooperative with the U.S. on reform/budgetary issues to this point, actually being more in the G77 camp. However, MEA contacts here hint that India, a member of the Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary questions (ACABQ), is more willing to work with us on UN budget reform than in the past. We could test this with little to lose, given past practice, and a lot to gain should we find a new working partner on budget issues. We could explore with officials such as K.C. Singh areas of budget reform India would be willing to work with us more closely on, and see if it is truly ready to work more cooperatively with us. ¶6. (C) Energy Security/Climate Change: The US-led Asia Pacific Partnership (APP) on climate change control is garnering much positive support in India, and this effort could be expanded, perhaps parallel to the APP, to include energy security. Securing dependable sources of energy is a high-priority issue for the GOI, and will only continue to increase in urgency, parallel to its increasing GDP growth NEW DELHI 00005053 002 OF 002 rate. At the same time, India carries a lot of credibility with the developing world on issues of global climate change, and is active in post-Kyoto Protocol considerations. Greater cooperation with India on these two interrelated issues could pay benefits beyond the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change and APP, to include closer collaboration in the International Energy Agency and other global energy/climate change fora. It is worth noting that while India and the US have cooperated well on energy issues in the past, we will need to consult closely with the GOI on climate change, especially if we envision USG positions evolving that will have implications for India and China. ¶7. (C) Maritime Security: Recent incidents of piracy off the coast of Africa have caused serious concern for India, not only because oil and other resources come to India through the Arabian Sea, but also since India perceives its naval sphere of influence to ultimately include the span of the Indian Ocean. Along the same lines, India shares an interest with the U.S. in keeping sea lanes of communication safe and open to merchant trade. As U.S.-India defense cooperation continues to blossom, working together with India within the UN on maritime security issues could pay benefits for our broader relationship. ¶8. (C) Global Disaster Relief: This is an area which has seen great global cooperation since the tsunami, yet the U.S. and India could still do more together to lead within the UN,s International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (ISDR) on Asian and global disaster relief preparations. Again, this is an area where we could leverage our new security relationship, as although India is still squeamish about talking about "interoperability" with U.S. forces, developing joint capabilities for humanitarian operations would likely be attractive politically in New Delhi. One idea would be for the U.S. and India to work together with the International Maritime Organization to create a regional anti-piracy initiative. ¶9. (C) Comment. Indian contacts here assure us that India,s past practice of constant opposition to U.S. interests in the UN does not reflect the character of our new relationship, and that we can expect closer cooperation in the future. We're eager to see the GOI demonstrate that. Post stands ready to work from New Delhi in putting India to the test to carry out its promise that better cooperation is ahead. Part of the problem stems from India's habit of parking diplomatic troglodytes in international institutions. This list of ideas for areas of greater cooperation is not meant to cover every possibility, but will hopefully be viewed by Washington and New York as ideas for further thought. MULFORD