INDIA, BRAZIL, SOUTH AFRICA DISPLAY SOUTH-SOUTH

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 NEW DELHI 002763 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/17/2018 TAGS: PGOV ECON PREL SF BR IN SUBJECT: INDIA, BRAZIL, SOUTH AFRICA DISPLAY SOUTH-SOUTH SOLIDARITY AT NEW DELHI SUMMIT Classified By: Acting Political Counselor Pushpinder Dhillon for Reason s 1.4 (B, D) ¶1. (SBU) Summary. During the October 15 India-Brazil-South Africa summit in New Delhi, the three countries: -- emphasized their solidarity by pledging to work together to meet shared challenges of the global financial crisis, while criticizing rich countries for the crisis; -- signed seven agreements and two action plans, including a memorandum to facilitate trilateral trade, an accord to increase tourism between the three countries, and action plans for better cooperation on sea and air transportation. -- issued a lengthy "Delhi Summit Declaration," covering shared views on a multitude of issues, ranging from global governance to UN reforms to climate change to Doha Development Round to Iraq to food security and even the Indian Diwali festival of light; -- set a target for trilateral trade of $25 billion by 2015; and -- congratulated themselves for the progress made in the first five years of the IBSA Dialogue Forum and committed to begin a second cycle of IBSA summits in Brazil next year. End Summary. ¶2. (SBU) Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh welcomed Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and South African President Kgalema Motlanthe to New Delhi October 15 for the 3rd Summit of the India-Brazil-South Africa (IBSA) Dialogue Forum. IBSA has gained in significance for the Indian government, evidenced by PM Singh's remarks in the inaugural address which described a unique relationship based on common interests in multilateral fora such as GATT/WTO and the G-20 group of developing countries, as well as the potential that their trilateral relationship holds for South-South cooperation and as leaders of developing countries. PM Singh, in a theme repeated by the leaders throughout the summit and widely noted in media coverage, was quick to assert that IBSA had a role to play in expediting reform of the international financial architecture for "a more development-friendly world trading system," noting that turmoil in global markets further enhanced the imperative of South-South cooperation. Singh also described how India, Brazil and South Africa, as leading economies of their respective continents, also had a responsibility to other developing countries. ¶3. (SBU) The summit produced seven agreements: a Tripartite Agreement on Tourism, an MoU on Trade Facilitation for Standards, Technical Regulations and Conformity Assessment, an MoU on Environment, an MoU on Human Settlements Development, a Five Year Action Plan for Maritime Development, a Five Year Action Plan for Civil Aviation, and an MoU on Women's Development and Gender Equality Programs. The leaders also agreed to direct their Ministers of Finance, Governors of Central Banks, and Ministers of Trade and Industry to work together to develop a response to the financial crisis. ¶4. (SBU) The summit focused on development issues, with the leaders calling for "the need to make the structures of global governance more democratic, representative and legitimate by increasing the participation of developing countries in the decision-making bodies of multilateral institutions." The leaders reaffirmed their support for UN reforms, especially expansion of Security Council membership. The leaders also reiterated their support of efforts to achieve the Millennium Development goals, calling on developed countries to "fulfill their commitments in the global partnership...including increasing Official NEW DELHI 00002763 002 OF 002 Development Assistance (ODA) to 0.7% of their GNI." ¶5. (SBU) The "Delhi Summit Declaration" was an expansive document covering many topics. The Declaration highlighted shared commitments to Global Governance goals, sustainable development, negotiation of an international regime of Access Benefit Sharing (ABS) for genetic resources, protection of human rights, cooperation on an intellectual property regime, disarmament, non-proliferation, peaceful uses of nuclear energy, and combating terrorism. It welcomed resumption of the multilateral WTO process, especially calling for finalization of modalities in agriculture and non-agricultural market access (NAMA),and noting that many Doha Round issues left unresolved were issues critical to developing countries. The leaders agreed to collaborate on policy and technology to strengthen energy security in the three countries, and called on developed countries to facilitate access to renewable energy technology by developing countries. The Declaration also called on countries to deliver promised funding to address food security issues. Other topics touched on were regional issues from the New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD) to the Middle East Peace Process, and, somewhat surprisingly, a section wishing the government and people of India well on the occasion of Diwali (the celebration of light). ¶6. (SBU) Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said in his press conference at the end of the summit that the IBSA countries expect to meet the $15 billion target for trilateral trade by 2010, and accordingly have set a goal of $25 billion in trilateral trade by 2015. Brazil will start the second round of IBSA summits by hosting the 4th IBSA summit on 8 October, 2009. ¶7. (C) Comment. The IBSA Summits have demonstrated the three governments' commitment to the idea of closer engagement, but their trade levels still lag. Their $15 billion trade target is less than 2 percent of their world trade. However, although India and Brazil have been prominent players in the Doha Round, both individually and as co-leaders of the G20, their interests diverge substantially. Brazil appears to have significant offensive interests in agricultural exports while India is highly defensive on agricultural market access. Indeed, India was one of the main barriers to achieving a deal during the WTO Ministerial in July while Brazil appears to have played a constructive role in joining with the EU and US in trying to forge a consensus. Perhaps these governments can play a more constructive role in the planned global financial summit, which anticipates expanding from a narrow G-8 representation to include the governments of India, Brazil and South Africa. WHITE