FS MENON AND U/S BURNS DISCUSS REGIONAL SECURITY

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 NEW DELHI 001210

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E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/11/2019
TAGS: PREL PGOV PTER MOPS PK IN
SUBJECT: FS MENON AND U/S BURNS DISCUSS REGIONAL SECURITY

Classified By: CDA Peter Burleigh for Reasons 1.4 (B and D)


1. (C) SUMMARY. Foreign Secretary Menon and visiting Under
Secretary for Political Affairs Bill Burns discussed regional
security June 10, with a focus on Afghanistan and Pakistan.
Menon referred to Prime Minister Singh's June 9 comments in
Parliament that the Composite Dialogue could not resume until
Pakistan took credible action to dismantle terrorist
infrastructure, but also confirmed that Singh planned to meet
Pakistan President Zardari at the Shanghai Cooperation
Organization ministerial in Yekaterinburg next week. Menon
cautioned, however, that a resumption of the Composite
Dialogue, which failed to prevent the Mumbai attacks, would
be indefensible for the government without prior credible
action by Pakistan. Menon viewed Afghanistan as a more
hopeful prospect, despite its problems, and welcomed
increased regional cooperation. Sri Lanka's Senior
Presidential Advisor Basil Rajapaksa planned to visit India
next week. On-going political competition among Nepal's
Maoists meant that Nepal had returned to politics as usual,
suggesting to Menon that they were not yet prepared to take
up arms again. Additional Secretary Katju sought
clarification on the U.S. position with regard to several
UN-related issues, including India's proposal for a UN
Convention Against Terrorism and Security Council reform.
The conversation also touched on Iran, North Korea, and
Burma. END SUMMARY.


2. (SBU) Participants:

Under Secretary William Burns
Assistant Secretary Robert Blake
Charge d'Affaires Ambassador Peter Burleigh
Deputy Director of Policy Planning Derek Chollet
Deputy Chief of Mission Steven White
Acting Political Counselor Les Viguerie
P Staff Tom West
Political Officer David Holmes (note-taker)

Foreign Secretary Shivshankar Menon
Additional Secretary Vivek Katju
Ambassador to the United States Meera Shankar
Joint Secretary for the Americas Gaitri Kumar
Joint Secretary for Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Maldives, and
Myanmar T.S. Tirumurti
Joint Secretary for Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Iran T.C.A.
Raghvan

Menon and Burns Discuss Regional Issues
- - -


3. (C) Foreign Secretary Shivshankar Menon shared
perspectives on regional issues, as well as United Nations
issues, over lunch with visiting Under Secretary for
Political Affairs William Burns June 10. The conversation
focused on Afghanistan and Pakistan, and also touched on Sri
Lanka, Nepal, Iran, North Korea, and Burma.

Af-Pak: PM to Meet Zadari, but No Composite Dialogue
- - -


4. (C) Menon referred to Prime Minister Singh's June 9
comments in Parliament that the Composite Dialogue could not
resume until Pakistan took credible action to dismantle
terrorist infrastructure. Menon said there is a "strategic
imperative for peace," observing that a stable Pakistan is in
India's interest. He added, however, "Not much of what we
see indicates that peace will come about soon." India has no
confidence that the various power centers in Pakistan are
united and committed to a peaceful relationship with India;
even if they were, Menon said he was not sure the Pakistan

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government would have the power to bring it about. Menon
said India talked to Pakistan "all the time" via the Indian
High Commission in Islamabad, but any public Indian
initiative is vulnerable to opponents in Pakistan. He
observed that Pakistan's actions in Swat are a military
operation meant to address what is fundamentally a political
problem, which could have the effect of "creating more
recruits" at a time when radicalization is spreading across
the Indus River and erasing distinctions between terrorist
groups. Menon confided that India shares the view that the
security of Pakistan's nuclear arsenal is a serious issue,
but there is "no point" in India speaking publicly about it.
Menon concluded that while India is concerned about
Pakistan's stability, it has very limited means to address
this issue. India has no clear answers, but does believe in
a clear confluence of interests to oppose radicalism and
terrorism. Burns said we share many of the same
uncertainties and agree that a political solution is
necessary, adding that the U.S. government is committed to
transparency with India.


5. (C) In a one-on-one meeting earlier in the day (septel),
Menon shared that Prime Minister Singh planned to meet
Pakistan President Zardari at the Shanghai Cooperation
Organization ministerial in Yekatarinburg, Russia next week.
Menon said PM Singh did not have much confidence in Zardari
but had concluded that there was no alternative. Menon
cautioned, however, that the Indian government was not in a
position to resume the Composite Dialogue without credible
action by Pakistan to dismantle terrorist infrastructure.
Menon explained that the Mumbai attacks took place while the
Composite Dialogue was underway, and Indians would not
understand why it would be resumed when it had failed to
prevent Pakistan-based terrorist attacks in the first place.


6. (C) Despite its problems, Menon said he viewed Afghanistan
as a more hopeful prospect than Pakistan. Burns replied that
he, too, was optimistic, citing improved regional cooperation
to tackle the problems in Afghanistan. J/S Raghvan observed
that an Af-Pak transit trade agreement could be an extremely
important development for Afghanistan, yielding considerable
benefits within three or four years and reducing the
incentives among farmers to grow poppy.

Iran: Playing a Mixed Game in Afghanistan
- - -


7. (C) Menon inquired about Iran's role in Afghanistan,
observing that Iran seems to play a mixed game and confirming
that India tends to receive disparate messages from different
channels. Burns asked Menon to convey to his Iranian
counterparts that engagement with the U.S. is an opportunity
Iran cannot afford to miss, while allowing that engagement
will be a very difficult process.

Sri Lanka: Pressing for Reconciliation
- - -


8. (C) Assistant Secretary Blake said the U.S. is hoping to
see progress on reconciliation and humanitarian relief in Sri
Lanka, but progress on the former so far has been slow.
Menon shared that Senior Presidential Advisor Basil Rajapaksa
and other Sri Lankan officials are planning to visit India
next week. India has opened a health care facility and hopes
to provide assistance with livelihoods for displaced persons.
Menon confessed that he is not sure where the Lankans'
hesitation to pursue more robust reconciliation comes from.
Their impulse to expand the military further is not a good
idea. Sri Lankan officials have balked at the idea of a
large international conference to coordinate assistance, but
they appear untroubled by individual efforts by various

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countries. Menon said he was skeptical of an idea voiced in
the Indian media to appoint a special envoy on Sri Lanka,
saying envoys tend to become lightening rods. Asked about
the appointment of a Tamil advisor in the government, Menon
said Sri Lankan officials claim to have two Tamils, but it is
not making a difference in practice.

Nepal: Internal Power Struggle Not Resolved
- - -


9. (C) Menon observed that Nepal's internal problems
continued and the Maoist themselves face division which adds
to the turmoil as power shifts. Competition for positions of
influence means that Nepal has returned to politics as usual.
As long as that political competition exists, Maoists will
not take up arms again. Whether they'll settle quickly,
Menon did not know. Menon speculated that a few months in
power has made them think differently.

North Korea and Burma
- - -


10. (C) Menon observed that a dialogue on Asian security
would be useful, including on the DPRK. Burns shared that
the current agitation in North Korea seems to be triggered by
the internal succession process. He flagged for Menon
efforts in the UN Security Council to seek tougher sanctions,
but noted Chinese and Russian sensitivities. Menon noted
that the UN Secretary General planned to get involved and
would visit Burma, but the Burmese have said he cannot
interfere with their process of democratization, including
planned elections for next year.

UN Terrorism Convention and Security Council Reform
- - -


11. (C) Additional Secretary Katju also raised several
UN-related issues. With regard to India's proposal for a UN
Convention Against Terrorism, Katju inquired whether a
reference to self-determination in the preamble would be
acceptable to the U.S. Ambassador Burleigh explained that
the conduct of national liberation movements could not be
excluded from the scope of the agreement and that it was
important to maintain a unified position in support of
maintaining the standard military carve-out language. On
Security Council reform, Katju said his understanding was
that the U.S. had not yet made up its mind on how to proceed.
He observed that intermediate solutions do not resolve the
basic issue. Burns said there are many possible approaches,
but the new administration has not yet formulated its views.
There was, however, a clear recognition that the current
configuration was not adequate, as well as a commitment to
making the UN effective.


12. (U) Under Secretary Burns cleared this message.


BURLEIGH