REQUEST THAT INDIA RESCHEDULE NEW DELHI AVIAN FLU

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 STATE 000507 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: AMED EAGR EAID KFLU TBIO IN SUBJECT: REQUEST THAT INDIA RESCHEDULE NEW DELHI AVIAN FLU MEETING REF: 06 STATE 201180 ¶1. Please deliver the attached text formally requesting that India schedule the meeting of the International Partnership on Avian and Pandemic Influenza (IPAPI) during the period October-December 2007: see paragraphs 4 and 5. Signed original will be delivered to the Indian embassy in Washington. Although we are disappointed that India did not manage to send a delegation to Bamako, we want to begin now a productive dialogue to ensure the best possible out come for the upcoming conference in New Delhi in the last quarter of ¶2007. ¶2. At the end of the international conference on avian and pandemic influenza held in Bamako December 6-8 (reftel), Special Representative on Avian and Pandemic Influenza John Lange convened a meeting of the IPAPI Core Group (Australia, Canada, EU/EC, Japan, United Kingdom and USG). In addition, UN agencies, the World organization for Animal Health, and the World Bank were invited. ¶3. Regarding the IPAPI meeting that India agreed to host during the POTUS visit in March 2006, the group agreed to recommend to India that the date of the 2007 meeting be rescheduled from summer 2007 untl the last quarter of the year and that the meeting also serve as a pledging conference. The group also agreed on the need for the UN to organize a technical meeting some months before the New Delhi Meeting. ¶4. The USG national strategy emphasizes both control of avian influenza outbreaks and preparations for a possible human pandemic. It is imperative that the New Delhi meeting deal with both subjects, which are related but distinct. We understand that the GOI has determined that the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare organize the event. The Embassy in its dialogue with the GOI should emphasize that the Ministry of External Affairs and the Ministry of Agriculture also need to be fully engaged in planning for the IPAPI meeting. Post is requested to deliver the following letter from Special Representative Lange conveying these requests Joint Secretary Vineet Chawdhry of the Department of Health and Family Welfare (with copies to Joint Secretary Manjeev Singh Puri at the Ministry of External Affairs, Joint Secretary Uma Chawdhry at the Ministry of Agriculture). Ambassador Mulford will show on the original as a recipient of a courtesy copy to ensure the addressees understand the central role the Ambassador and the Embassy will play. ¶5. Begin Text: Mr. Vineet Chawdhry Joint Secretary Ministry of Health and Family Welfare Nirman Bhavan, New Delhi Dear Mr. Chawdhry: I recently returned from the international conference on avian and pandemic influenza held December 6-8 in Bamako, Mali. This meeting was the first major international conference on the subject following the Vienna Senior Officials Meeting that you attended in June. In light of India's offer at the Vienna meeting to host the meeting of the International Partnership on Avian and Pandemic Influenza in 2007, delegations at the Bamako meeting expressed regret that India was unable to attend and participate in discussions of next steps. We held a post-conference meeting to make tentative plans for next steps at which India's participation would have been valuable. At that meeting, key donor governments, the UN system Influenza Coordinator, UN Agencies, The World Organization for Animal Health (OIE),and the World Bank came to the conclusion that the next international conference should take place in 10-12 months' time. It was therefore STATE 00000507 002 OF 002 agreed to suggest to the Government of India that the planned New Delhi meeting be scheduled to take place in October, November, or early December of 2007. It was also agreed that the conference needed to serve three basic purposes: to discuss key issues related to the spread of avian influenza in poultry; to discuss key issues related to preparing for a possible human pandemic; and to generate additional donor contributions through a pledging session. The World Bank agreed to update its report on financing needs related to avian and human influenza in the months before the New Delhi conference. Participants also agreed that it would be desirable for the United Nations System to hold a technical-level meeting covering both avian and human pandemic influenza in the period between the Bamako and New Delhi meetings. At the U.S. Embassy in New Delhi Health Attache Dr. Altaf Lal will be the point of contact for U.S. planning for the International Partnership meeting. I would be very grateful if you could let us know by January 30 if the Government of India concurs with the suggestions that the meeting in New Delhi take place in the October-December 2007 time frame and that it include a pledging element. We look forward to working closely with you and your colleagues in the Ministries of Health and Family Welfare, External Affairs, and Agriculture in the run-up to the New Delhi Meeting, which we expect to be a signal event in the international response to the threat of avian and pandemic influenza. Sincerely, Ambassador John E. Lange Special Representative on Avian and Pandemic Influenza End Text. RICE