INDIAN NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISOR ON PAKISTAN,

C O N F I D E N T I A L NEW DELHI 001757 NOFORN SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/20/2019 TAGS: PREL PTER PK IN SUBJECT: INDIAN NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISOR ON PAKISTAN, UPCOMING VISIT REF: NEW DELHI 1677 Classified By: Ambassador Timothy Roemer. Reasons: 1.4 (B) and (D). ¶1. (C) In a August 18 conversation, the Ambassador followed up with Indian National Security Advisor Narayanan about statements made by Prime Minister Singh in his August 17 speech to India's Chief Ministers regarding the on-going terrorism threat from Pakistan. (Note: The PM's comments had garnered heavy media attention in India and prompted a response from Pakistani FM Qureshi the next day asking for details about the threat.) The Ambassador specifically asked if there was any fresh or new intelligence or leads on the threat level. Narayanan replied "there was nothing new from the PM,s statement." Narayanan referred to his August 10 conversation with the Ambassador (reftel) in which he had discussed Pakistan, counterterrorism and intelligence sharing. ¶2. (C) The Ambassador pressed Narayanan on whether the GOI intended to share this information with Pakistan regardless of whether the information was new or not. Narayanan's response was brisk and to the point: he said there were mechanisms in place to pass this type of information on to the Pakistanis and that India would wait to see if there was a response. ¶3. (C) On a separate topic, NSA Narayanan had no new information to share on the DPRK-flagged vessel that had been detained by the Indian authorities in Port Blair in the Andamans on August 6. He said the inspection of the vessel was ongoing and that he would get back to the Ambassador if there was new information that could be shared. ROEMER