SCENESETTER AND TALKING POINTS FOR MEETING WITH

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 KATHMANDU 001048 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/18/2018 TAGS: PREL PGOV PTER PHUM ECON EINV MARR PREF KSEC UN, CH, IN, NP SUBJECT: SCENESETTER AND TALKING POINTS FOR MEETING WITH PRIME MINISTER DAHAL AT UNGA REF: A. KATHMANDU 1016 ¶B. KATHMANDU 1040 Classified By: Ambassador Nancy J. Powell. Reasons 1.4 (b/d) Introduction -------------- ¶1. (C) During your meeting with Prime Minister Pushpa Dahal on the margins of the 63rd UN General Assembly, you should raise the following issues: (1) Government of Nepal (GON) plans; (2) progress in the peace process and UN Mission in Nepal (UNMIN) operations; (3) reining in the Maoist Young Communist League; and (4) protection of Tibetan refugees. Your meeting will be the Prime Minister's first with a U.S. official at the Assistant Secretary level or above. Bilateral Relations -------------- ¶2. (C) Bilateral relations with the new Maoist-led coalition government have been less rocky than one might have expected given the Maoists' history of anti-U.S. rhetoric and the continued U.S. listing of the CPN-M on both the terrorist exclusion list and the specially designated global terrorist list. So far, the GON has expressed eagerness for the U.S. to maintain, if not increase, its assistance and engagement in Nepal, including military assistance. There has been no reduction in the level of government security provided to the U.S. Mission. Government of Nepal Plans -------------- ¶3. (C) Based on less than three weeks in office, the GON's performance reveals some grounds for optimism. On the plus side, key members of the cabinet (PM, Foreign, Defense, Home, Peace & Reconstruction) seem to know what they want to accomplish and to be pursuing those goals energetically. Nepalis appear to be generally satisfied with the GON's response to its initial crisis -- the failure of the Koshi River embankment on August 18. On the minus side, the more than USD 3 billion 08/09 budget expected on September 19 would far outstrip previous combined revenue, foreign aid and internal loan estimates and may contain huge increases in populist programs that could result in economic problems. The 601-member Constituent Assembly (CA) has yet to finalize its rules of procedure or elect its leaders. The drafting of a new constitution has not begun. All the major parties are riven with internal dissension leaving the current coalition extraordinarily unstable. Talking Points: �A;-- Commitment to non-violence and democracy the basis for a normal relationship with us; -- GON needs to provide governance, address service and infrastructure needs, get CA up and running; -- Attracting foreign investment/tourism will require law and order, protection of private property, functioning government Progress In the Peace Process and UNMIN Operations -------------- -------------- ¶4. (C) UN Special Representative Ian Martin reports significant divisions among Maoist party members (and other parties) over the composition and control of the 146/Special Committee that the cabinet is to name to manage integration and rehabilitation of the People's Liberation Army (PLA). Martin believes the GON should concentrate in the short term on: (a) removing the 4,000 non-combatants in the PLA cantonments, including approximately 2,000 minors, and establishing appropriate re-integration programs; (b) consolidating the current 28 cantonments into 7; and (c) consolidating arms from the 7 main cantonments into one location and/or destroying them. These measures could be taken relatively rapidly, should not require a decision by KATHMANDU 00001048 002 OF 002 the 146 Committee and will allow UNMIN to show progress and reduce its staff further. We should promote these proposals for immediate GON action. The GON also needs to determine as soon as possible its need for a further extension of UNMIN. Talking Points: -- Welcome your decision to step down as PLA supreme commander; -- Urge immediate formation of 146 Committee; -- Urge immediate consolidation of camps and arms, as well as removal of children and other ineligibles; -- Request a determination ASAP if UNMIN extension is desired after January 23, 2009 expiration of current mandate Reining In the Young Communist League -------------- ¶5. (C) Although the CPN-M chairman has repeatedly committed to ending lawlessness by the Maoist Young Communist League (YCL),abuses continue. The reports the Embassy received in August -- which the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights corroborated -- of YCL torturing drug users over a period of months at a "rehabilitation center" in Kathmandu were the latest example. The UML has already drawn the wrong lesson by establishing a militant youth wing of its own. The NC is considering taking the same step. Talking Points: -- Fulfill pledges on YCL and end YCL abuses immediately; -- They are reinforcing widespread culture of impunity, could lead to return to insurgency Protecting Tibetan Refugees -------------- ¶6. (C) Assuming the Indian Ambassador agrees when he returns to Kathmandu on September 19, the 100-plus undocumented Tibetans whom the police arrested and handed over to the Tibetan Reception Center will be sent to India under the so-called Gentlemen's Agreement. In response to the recent crackdown, the Tibetan "government-in-exile" appears to have ordered a stop to near daily protests in prohibited areas outside the Chinese Embassy and Consulate. Bamdev Gautam, the new Home Minister, insisted September 16 that he had no intention of rounding up undocumented Tibetans or of deporting any Tibetan refugees to China. Talking Point: -- Urge GON to allow Tibetan refugees to conduct lawful protests; no deportations to China POWELL