ASSISTANT SECRETARY BOUCHER PRESSES FOR PROGRESS

C O N F I D E N T I A L NEW DELHI 000703

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SENSITIVE
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E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/04/2018
TAGS: PREL PGOV EAGR ETRD AMGT CVIS MARR OEXC OVIP
PTER, TSPA, TSPL, IN
SUBJECT: ASSISTANT SECRETARY BOUCHER PRESSES FOR PROGRESS
ON BILATERAL ISSUES WITH FOREIGN SECRETARY, JOINT SECRETARY

Classified By: Ambassador David Mulford for Reasons 1.4 (B and D)


1. (C) Summary: In separate March 4 meetings, Assistant
Secretary Richard Boucher reviewed the bilateral relationship

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with Foreign Secretary Shivshankar Menon and Joint Secretary
Gaitri Kumar. The Ambassador joined in the Menon meeting.
They agreed on a renewed effort to achieve progress on
several issues with promise for stregthening the foundations
of the relationship. They identified the following issues
which can be advanced in the coming months: Defense
Agreements, Fulbright Agreement, cooperation in education and
agriculture, Technology Safeguards Agreement, Agriculture
Knowledge Initiative and visas. They previewed the proposed
visit by External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee to
Washington later this month, agreeing to work together to
develop a good agenda. Joint Secretary Gaitri Kumar promised
a prompt response to the proposed May 5 date for the next
round of the counterterrorism dialogue. Assistant Secretary
Boucher proposed establishing a structured bilateral dialogue
to discuss regional policies in Africa, East Asia and the
Gulf. End Summary.

Bilateral Relationship: Nuts and Bolts
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2. (C) In a March 4 meeting, Foreign Secretary Shivshankar
Menon and Assistant Secretary Richard Boucher shared an
optimistic assessment of the relationship. During a separate
March 4 meeting, Joint Secretary Gaitri Kumar gave an upbeat
read-out of the recent visits to India by Secretary of
Defense Gates and Under Secretary of Commerce Mancuso. She
noted that the Secretary of Defense's visit, in particular,
highlighted the breadth and depth of the United States-India
bilateralQelationship. She underscored the "excellent" and
intense discussions that the two sides had on Afghanistan and
Pakistan during Secretary Gates' visit.


3. (C) Drawing attention to the limited time remaining for
the current Indian and United States administrations, Boucher
proposed that the two sides focus in the coming months on
accelerating work to achieve progress on issues that will
strengthen the foundations for the bilateral relationship.
Menon and Kumar agreed that the U.S. and India must "lock in"
the various pending agreements and activities currently under
discussion "irrespective of elections." In this context,
Boucher raised the following issues with Menon and Kumar:

-- Defense Agreements (Logistics Support Agreement, End Use
Monitoring Agreement, Communication Interoperability and
Secure Memorandum of Agreement): Menon said that the End-Use
monitoring and Communications agreements are "very close,"
but Defense Minister A.K. Antony has asked for one more
inter-ministerial consultation on the Logistics Support
Agreement. Kumar noted that the Indian Ministries of Defense
and External Affairs have instructions from the "highest
levels to do what needs to be done" to finalize the
agreements. She added that the Indian Government is acutely
aware that time is running out. She explained that the
outstanding question was merely one of timing where the
Indian side needs to find the best way of dealing with the
domestic political implications of entering into these
agreements. (Note: National Security Advisor Narayanan had
previously told Defense Secretary Gates that the Prime
Minister had charged him with concluding all three agreements
quickly. Narayanan had said that a short intense effort
could close out all three agreements. End Note.)

-- Fulbright Agreement: Menon and Kumar confirmed that the
holdout Indian Ministries had cleared the agreement and the
matter was on its way to the Cabinet for approval. (Note: PA
Min/Couns had earlier been told by Indian officials that the
agreement had been cleared by all the Indian government
stakeholders. End Note.) Boucher suggested that the two
sides consider signing the agreement during External Affairs
Minister Pranab Mukherjee's proposed Washington visit later
this month.

-- Education: Kumar was enthusiastic about the idea of the
United States supporting an American Center and a library at
Osmania University in Hyderabad. She suggested that private
sector funding for establishing chairs at Indian universities
be pursued through the CEO Forum, which is in the process of

drafting a paper on education. She believes that Planning
Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia is the key
person to shepherd education issues through the CEO Forum.
Boucher urged liberalization of the Indian education sector.
He noted that such reform would result in an explosion of
private sector involvement in the sector.

-- Fulbright Visas: Boucher and Kumar expressed satisfaction
that a mechanism had been found to expedite issuance of
Indian visas to Fulbright scholars. (Note: the new
procedures shift the responsibility of providing clearance
for Fulbright scholar visas from the Ministry of Home Affairs
in Delhi to the Indian Embassy in Washington on the grounds
that Indian consular officers in the United States are in a
better position to evaluate the background, interests and
affiliations of the applicants. The new system will be
tested starting April, when we expect a large number of new
Fulbright visa applicants. End Note.)

-- Mantis Reciprocity: Boucher expressed grave concern at the
newly-established Indian visa requirements for U.S. visitors
traveling to India for science and technology-related
purposes. Conceding that the U.S. Visas Mantis requirements
for visitors in the science and technology fields are
onerous, he noted that the U.S. has worked assiduously during
the last year to expedite the processing. While we were
working hard to move our visa regime in the right direction,
the India government is moving in the wrong direction, he
cautioned. Kumar acknowledged that the Indian visa
requirements were imposed on the basis of the reciprocity
principle. She did not offer a way out, only suggesting that
the two sides work within the reciprocity constraints to
smooth the processing of visas.

-- Approval of Embassy Positions: Boucher drew attention to
the Secretary's Global Repositioning Initiative from which
the Mission in India has gained more than possibly any other
U.S. Mission in the world. However, he noted,the
restructuring is not going smoothly because of the
two-to-four months that the Indian Government takes in
approving new positions. This has caused uncertainty and
occasional financial hardship for new officers assigned to
India. Kumar responded that she has put in place a system to
expedite the approval process and alert her when delays are
occurring. She asked that action offices in both governments
remain closely in touch with each other to ensure prompt
processing of requests for new positions. Pol/MinCouns noted
that we currently have one pending approval -- the incoming
Consul General for Hyderabad -- but cautioned that the new
system will be put to the test when our requests start
increasing as we approach the summer rotation season.

-- Commercial Space Launch Agreement: Handing Kumar a
nonpaper, Boucher offered a revised U.S. proposal in which
the U.S. would agree to separation of the Technology
Safeguards Agreement and the Space Launch Agreement. He
noted that the U.S. would be prepared to proceed with the
Technology Safeguards Agreement provided we received a
commitment, preferably in writing, from the Indian Government
that it was prepared to engage in regular consultations on
commercial satellite launch and services in a specified
forum. The U.S. would begin licensing civilian,
non-commercial satellite launches, which could be expanded to
other areas if there is progress on the Space Launch
Agreement. Kumar agreed to discuss the new U.S. concept
paper with Indian stakeholders and respond after they have
had an opportunity to study it. Menon also pledged to involve
the Indian Space Research Organization, which has the lead on
this issue and will be our key interlocutor.

-- Agriculture: Referring to a recent letter from Under
Secretary Burns to Foreign Secretary Menon on enhanced

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cooperation in agriculture, Kumar noted that the Indian side
has not yet completed its inter-Ministerial deliberations.
With regard to the U.S. proposal of drawing in the private
sector, she suggested that this would best be accomplished
by bringing in the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce
and Industry and the U.S.-India Business Council, which would
generate participation by private companies. Boucher
reinforced the U.S. desire to expand the dialogue while
pointing out that funds were running out.

Mukherjee Visit: Strong Agenda
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4. (SBU) Kumar outlined the Indian Government's thinking on
the proposed visit of External Affairs Minister Pranab
Mukherjee to Washington beginning on March 24. Aside from
developing a strong agenda for Mukherjee's meetings with the
Secretary, Kumar said they are seeking meetings with Senator

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Biden and Representative Berman as the heads of the foreign
relations committees in the two houses. In addition, the
Indians will plan a speech/public event at a nonpartisan
think-tank and a public outreach event to recognize
Indian-American groups which supported the U.S.-India civil
nuclear agreement. She singled out two items that the
Indians would like on the agenda for visit: a U.S. response
on the Indian nonpaper on science and technology cooperation;
and movement on Social Security totalization. Kumar noted
that Foreign Secretary Menon will accompany Mukherjee in
Washington.


5. (SBU) Boucher welcomed Mukherjee's Washington visit and
suggested to Kumar that the narrative of the visit should be
two-fold: the two countries are committed to finalizing the
civil nuclear agreement; and, separate from the civil nuclear
agreement, the two countries will strengthen the numerous
other areas of cooperation that make this a strong and
growing bilateral relationship.


6. (SBU) Menon confirmed that Mukherjee would go to
Washington, and asked whether Mukherjee should go the Hill.
Boucher advised that Mukherjee would have a good opportunity
to expose key members of the U.S. Congress to the Indian
government's commitment to the partnership with the U.S. and
the civil nuclear initiative, particularly with new
leadership in the House Foreign Relations Committee.
However, he cautioned, Mukherjee will be in Washington during
the Easter recess, which might make meetings difficult to
arrange.

Structured Dialogue: Africa, Gulf, East Asia
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7. (C) While acknowledging the dramatic growth of the
bilateral relationship in recent years, Boucher noted that
one aspect that remains missing from the partnership is a
systematic, regular dialogue between the two countries on
parts of the world outside the South Asia region. Handing
Kumar a nonpaper, he proposed that the two sides establish a
structured discussion about Africa, the Gulf and East Asia.
Kumar was receptive to the proposal. She noted that while we
have maintained a bilateral strategic dialogue at the Under
Secretary-Foreign Secretary level, we should consider

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expanding the areas under discussion to include regions
identified by Boucher. She said the Indian side will respond
after studying the ideas contained in the U.S. paper.

Counterterrorism Dialogue: Going Well
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8. (SBU) Noting that he had talked to Coordinator for
Counterterrorism Dell Dailey before embarking on this visit,
Boucher expressed U.S. satisfaction at the bilateral dialogue
on counterterrorism. He said U.S. participants in the
dialogue looked forward to working with Additional Secretary
Katju, who recently replaced K.C. Singh as head of the
Political and International Organization division at the
Ministry of External Affairs. He reiterated the U.S.
proposal that the next round of bilateral discussions on
counterterrorism be held on May 5. Kumar responded that the
Indian side is eager to schedule the discussions during this
timeframe but is checking to see if there might be a conflict
with a Non-Aligned Movement meeting on the same date. She
promised to get back to us with a firm answer at the
earliest.

Trafficking in Persons: Show Progress
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9. (SBU) Boucher related that Secretary Rice has followed the
issue of trafficking in persons closely, and much of the
discussion between our two sides has focused attention on
bonded labor. Noting that with each review, we are "at risk

of disaster," he urged Menon to show progress. Menon
responded that "we are working on it intensively."


McDermott: Please Keep at Secretary Level
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10. (SBU) Boucher and Ambassador Mulford urged Menon to
continue to give high level attention to the McDermott
dispute so it can be resolved at the earliest.


11. (U) This message has been cleared by Assistant Secretary
Boucher.
MULFORD