INDIAN DELEGATION TO UNGA FIRST COMMITTEE WILL

UNCLAS NEW DELHI 002627 SENSITIVE SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PARM CDG PREL UNGA SUBJECT: INDIAN DELEGATION TO UNGA FIRST COMMITTEE WILL CONSIDER COMPLIANCE RESOLUTION IN NEW YORK REF: SECSTATE 101817 ¶1. (SBU) In response to reftel demarche, Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) Director for Disarmament and International Security Affairs (DISA) G. Dharmendra advised poloff on September 29 that the U.S. delegation to the UN General Assembly First Committee (UNFC) should raise the issue of support and co-sponsorship of the U.S.-proposed 2008 Compliance Resolution with the Indian delegation in New York. Dharmendra explained that the Indian delegation, led by Amassador Hamit Ali Rao in Geneva, will arrive in New York on October 6, allowing sufficient time to consider whether to support and possibly co-sponsor the resolution prior to the submission of resolutions on October 17 and the Indian Government decision-making process the week of October 19. ¶2. (SBU) Dharmendra was noncommittal on whether India would co-sponsor the resolution, but expressed keen interest, wondering aloud why India had not been among the co-sponsors of a similar resolution proposed by the U.S. and passed overwhelmingly in 2005. This discussion followed an exchange of congratulations on the recent progress of the Civil Nuclear Initiative, in which Dharmendra noted the changed political atmosphere in Delhi brought about by the Initiative that he hoped could enable India to offer more public support for U.S.-led nonproliferation efforts. WHITE