INDIA HOLDS MODEST EXPECTATIONS FOR RELATIONHSIP

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 ASHGABAT 001263 SIPDIS STATE FOR SCA/CEN E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/02/2019 TAGS: EINV EPET PREL IN AF TX SUBJECT: INDIA HOLDS MODEST EXPECTATIONS FOR RELATIONHSIP WITH TURKMENISTAN Classified By: Charge d'Affaires Sylvia Reed Curran. Reasons 1.4 (B) a nd (D). ¶1. (C) SUMMARY: Despite positive reports in Turkmen newspapers about the Indian External Affairs Minister's trip to Turkmenistan, a contact at the Indian Embassy expressed frustration with the way of doing business in Turkmenistan and the results of previous projects. He noted that the Turkmen are not taking advantage of Indian offers of lines of credit or study abroad programs for Turkmen students. If Indian companies want to increase their presence in Turkmenistan, they will need time, patience, and the support of their government, but they will first need to decide whether the results would be worth the commitment. END SUMMARY. ¶2. (C) Sham Mudgil, the DCM at the Indian Embassy in Ashgabat, told Poloff that joint projects between Turkmenistan and India were very limited in scope and number. State-run newspaper Neytralniy Turkmenistan gave a typical glowing report about Indian Minister of External Affairs S.M. Krishna's trip on 18-19 September, describing previous cooperation in education and healthcare, and giving the impression that the External Affairs Minister had discussed new projects in information technology, education, the sciences, and the energy sphere. Mudgil said that the only concrete project discussed was one to establish an India-Turkmenistan Center for Information Technology to train Turkmen in computer technology. The External Affairs Minister gave Turkmen President Berdimuhamedov a memorandum of understanding (MOU),and the Indians are now waiting for final approval to begin building the center, for which they will foot the bill. ¶3. (C) Mudgil said that in the past India had extended Turkmenistan two lines of credit, which the Turkmen only partially used. They opened a pharmaceutical factory in 2003 jointly with an Indian company, but since 2006 the factory has been owned and run solely by the Turkmen. Mudgil mentioned that an Indian construction company, Pamposh, constructed the Nissa hotel, but Pamposh was only a sub-contractor to a French company. The Indian government sponsors a Hindi language chair at the Azadi Institute, the Turkmen Institute of Foreign Languages. It also offers 25-30 places a year, all expenses paid, for Turkmen students at Indian universities. Mudgil said the Turkmen are not taking advantage of those student program because of the language barrier. ¶4. (C) When asked if there had been any discussion of the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) pipeline, Mudgil said that Turkmenistan had, as usual, expressed interest in the pipeline. He noted that India was also interested in the pipeline and had even signed an MOU. However, he does not believe the pipeline will come to fruition any time soon, if ever, because the Asian Development Bank (ADB),which would fund TAPI, will not spend any money until all four countries have signed the MOU and the security situation in Afghanistan and Pakistan stabilizes. ¶5. (C) In general, Mudgil was frustrated with the way of doing business in Turkmenistan. He compared it unfavorably to a previous assignment in Mazar-e-sharif. He said that in Afghanistan, he was able to pick up the phone and make appointments with government officials for the same day, whereas in Turkmenistan arranging a government meeting takes months. In addition, the Afghan government took advantage of the aid India offered, which amounted to $1.2 billion a year. 750 Afghan students study in India every year. ¶6. (C) COMMENT: Indian companies have apparently not gained regular access to the Turkmen economy. This takes time and patience on the part of the companies, as well as government support. It remains to be seen if the Indians deem the Turkmen market worth this investment. However, the ASHGABAT 00001263 002 OF 002 frustration that Mudgil expressed in private was not apparent in the Indian Embassy's press release about the External Affairs Minister's trip, showing that the Indian government also wanted to put a positive spin on a visit that resulted in few deliverables. END COMMENT. CURRAN