NEPAL: DEMARCHE DELIVERED ON IMPLEMENTING UN

C O N F I D E N T I A L KATHMANDU 000618 SIPDIS STATE FOR ISN/CPI MARK FELIPE E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/10/2019 TAGS: PARM PREL MNUC MTCRE KN NP SUBJECT: NEPAL: DEMARCHE DELIVERED ON IMPLEMENTING UN SECURITY COUNCIL RESOLUTION 1874 REF: STATE 65483 Classified By: Charge d'Affaires a.i. Jeffrey A. Moon. Reasons 1.4 (b/ d) Demarche Delivered -------------- ¶1. (U) On July 7, Emboff delivered the reftel demarche and talking points to Madan Bhattarai, Joint Secretary of the Foreign Ministry's UN and International Organizations Division, seeking the cooperation of the Government of Nepal (GON) in carrying out the inspection-related provisions of UN Security Council Resolution 1874 and providing transparency in Nepal's interactions with North Korea. Emboff emphasized that as a landlocked country the resolution's provisions regarding inspection of cargo were still relevant since goods to or from North Korea could still transit Nepal, particularly through Kathmandu's Tribhuvan International Airport. GON Response -------------- ¶2. (C) Bhattarai said he had personal experience with North Korean efforts to smuggle contraband. He said that more than 20 years earlier, as a junior officer, he had been called to the airport by Customs to inspect several suspicious packages, reportedly of sewing machines, which the North Korean Ambassador was attempting to ship. As it turned out, the packages were record players, dozens of them. From then on, until the Ambassador left, the Foreign Ministry refused to meet him at any level above Bhattarai. The Joint Secretary agreed to convey the information to the relevant authorities. (Note: North Korea currently has four diplomats assigned to its Embassy in Kathmandu.) MOON