DEMARCHE DELIVERED: GLOBAL INITIATIVE TO COMBAT

UNCLAS BANGKOK 001146 SENSITIVE SIPDIS STATE FOR EAP/MLS, NSC FOR PHU E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: KNNP PARM PGOV PINR PREL ASR TH SUBJECT: DEMARCHE DELIVERED: GLOBAL INITIATIVE TO COMBAT NUCLEAR TERRORISM REF: SECSTATE 21815 ¶1. (U) Please see requests for further information in paras 2 and 3. GLOBAL INITIATIVE TO COMBAT NUCLEAR TERRORISM -------------- ¶2. (SBU) In a joint demarche on May 5 with the embassies of Australia, Japan, and Russia, we delivered reftel talking points on the Global Initiative to Combat Nuclear Terrorism (GICNT) to Cherdkiat Attakor, Director of the Peace, Security and Disarmament Division of the MFA,s Department of International Organizations. Cherdkiat said Thailand supports endorsing the GICNT in principle and affirmed that Thailand had been approached in 2006 regarding joining the initiative. He said the MFA has hosted several interagency meetings to consider the GICNT, and all the relevant agencies believe Thailand has the capacity to join and to contribute. Cherdkiat said he foresees endorsing the initiative in the future, but the RTG is having a problem deciding on the appropriate focal point in the government for the GICNT. The GICNT cuts across several functional areas in the Thai bureaucracy and they need to decide which agency will be the lead. He asked if we could share the POC,s for all the current GI participating nations so they could see how other countries had decided to handle the issue. ¶3. (SBU) Cherdkiat also requested clarification on the role of the Implementation and Assessments Group, and reporting requirements. Referring to the Terms of Reference for Implementation and Assessment, the last two bullets, he said, seem to imply there may be some reporting requirement. He asked for clarification of these bullets and whether it would mean the RTG would be required to report progress on implementation to some executive body, such as the Implementation and Assessments Group. Within this context, he wanted more information on the role of the Implementation and Assessments Group. ¶4. (SBU) Cherdkiat said he had just returned from a Non-Aligned Movement meeting in Cuba where he discussed the GICNT with his Vietnamese counterpart. He said they discussed the GICNT in the context of ASEAN and whether it would be possible for all the ASEAN nations to endorse the initiative. He said Vietnam was supportive of this idea. He clarified to us that other ASEAN nations joining was not a condition for Thailand to join, but rather an idea to pursue. He said a decision by Thailand to endorse the GICNT would be independent of whether he chose to pursue the ASEAN idea. He reiterated that Thailand supported GICNT in principle, but needed to work out internal bureaucratic issues. (Comment: Our exchange on the GICNT was positive, and we believe our Thai interlocutors would like to endorse the statement of principles, but bureaucratic obstacles could prove significant. End Comment.) TREATY ON THE SOUTHEAST ASIA NUCLEAR-WEAPON-FREE ZONE -------------- -------------- ¶5. (SBU) In closing, Cherdkiat brought-up the Bangkok Treaty on the Southeast Asia Nuclear-Weapon-Free Zone (the Bangkok Treaty). He said China has expressed interest in the treaty, and asked if China,s interest affected our view of it. We responded, along with the Australians and Japanese, that we were not prepared to discuss the Bangkok Treaty, but we would relay his question to our respective capitals. The Russians responded that they supported the idea of a nuclear weapons-free SEA, but would only join the Bangkok Treaty if all the nuclear weapons states joined at the same time. JOHN