SCENESETTER FOR U/S OTERO'S VISIT TO INDIA

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 NEW DELHI 002207

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

G: DAVID YOUNG AND JEANNETTE WINDON

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: EAGR EAID ECON IN KDEM KGHG KWMN PREL SENV
KTIP
SUBJECT: SCENESETTER FOR U/S OTERO'S VISIT TO INDIA


1. (SBU) Under Secretary Otero:

Mission India warmly welcomes you to New Delhi to relaunch
the Global Issues Forum (GIF) in the run-up to Prime Minister
Singh's November 22-26 state visit to Washington. The
Embassy has worked hard to make progress across all five
pillars and 18 sub-dialogues of the U.S.-India Strategic
Dialogue, since the Secretary's July visit. The Global
Issues Forum dialogue provides an excellent mechanism to set
the course for our two nations to partner to overcome today's
global challenges in the region and beyond. The GIF will be
a three-hour long discussion on economic and social
development, environment and natural resources, water
management and food security, and necessary follow-on action.
This message seeks to highlight the Strategic Dialogues and
PM Singh visit deliverables involving global issues, flags
other issues you may wish to raise, and outlines the
activities of relevant ministries.

Energy and Climate Change
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2. (SBU) We envisage the signature deliverable of PM Singh's
November state visit will be the Clean Energy Technology
Partnership, which supports Indian efforts to become a model
of sustainable growth for the 21st century. The Clean Energy
Technology Partnership would focus on clean energy and
technological innovation. The USG is exploring the
possibility of establishing a USD 100 million Green Fund to
provide loan guarantees and use other creative financing
mechanisms for new technology and innovative projects. We
are exploring potential funding sources for the USG
contribution of USD 25 million to the fund.

Education and Development: Obama-Singh 21st Century
Knowledge Initiative
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3. (SBU) The GOI has already agreed to increase its
contribution to the Fulbright-Nehru program by USD 1 million
to match an increase in U.S. funding. We welcome OES
agreement to award USD 5 million from the PL480 rupee funds
to the Obama-Singh 21st Century Knowledge Initiative. The
GOI is also seeking matching funds for this program, which
will increase university linkages and junior faculty
development exchanges between U.S. and Indian universities,
with a focus on science and technology. In addition to
higher education, we have discussed collaboration on basic
education, focusing on a conference promoting teaching among
young Indians. The GOI is committed to education reform,
including legislation permitting the entry of foreign
educational providers into the Indian market.

Science, Technology, Health and Innovation: Global Disease
Detection (GDD) Program
--------------


4. (SBU) The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is
reviewing the draft GDD agreement, which would help India
respond to international health regulations and develop its
global capacity for disease detection. The GOI is also
working on clearing the draft GDD agreement through its
Health Ministry, and hopes it will be ready for signature
when PM Singh visits Washington.

Women's Empowerment Dialogue
--------------


5. (SBU) The Women's Empowerment Dialogue (WED) provides
opportunities to share best practices and partner on relevant
initiatives. Female feticide, trafficking for commercial sex
work, domestic violence, and dowry deaths continue to affect
countless India women. The new government has made several
promises regarding women's political empowerment including
raising "reservations" for women in village councils
(panchayats) and municipalities and is planning to introduce
legislation mandating a 50 percent "reservation" for women in
Parliament. Ambassador-at-Large for Global Women's Issues
Melanne Verveer is visiting India next week to begin
discussions with the GOI on the WED.

Food Security & Agriculture Dialogue
--------------


6. (SBU) The Agriculture Dialogue seeks to increase bilateral
cooperation to maximize opportunities for food security,
rural poverty alleviation, and farmer income generation. The
GOI views food security as primarily a domestic challenge of

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self-sufficiency in basic commodities. High food prices have
been a major issue in past elections and could become a
political threat for the current UPA government. We are
working to identify tangible outcomes on food security for
the PM's visit.

Trafficking in Persons
--------------


7. (SBU) India has been placed on the Tier 2 Watch List for
six consecutive years, primarily because it has not been able
to demonstrate sufficient progress in its anti-TIP law
enforcement efforts. If India is on the Tier 2 Watch List in
the 2010 TIP Report, it will automatically be downgraded to
Tier 3, which not only could result in sanctions against
India but would have adverse effects on the entire
relationship. The GOI views our G/TIP Report as flawed and
as not sufficiently appreciative of the government's anti-TIP
efforts within the Indian context in which a top-down,
centrally driven approach to a problem is not feasible in
heterogeneous, federal, and democratic India. We should
explore ways to partner with India on the trafficking
challenge. The Global Issues Forum provides a mechanism in
which we can work with the GOI to help India become a
regional leader in anti-TIP efforts and efforts to protect
migrant workers.

Environmental Protection
--------------


8. (SBU) Our growing partnership with India in environmental
stewardship focuses on developing science-based best
management practices for environmental governance and
conservation such as introducing appropriate management tools
for wildlife conservation, wildlife crime enforcement,
management of hazardous materials including mercury, and
Environmental Impact Assessment management. India is home to
the largest range for the Bengal tiger and also home to one
of the few mass nesting sites of the Olive Ridley turtle.
Although a member of the Coalition Against Wildlife
Trafficking (CAWT) and the South Asian Wildlife Enforcement
Network (SAWEN),India has not taken an active role. We
would like India to take a leadership role as the center of
biodiversity in the region, and would like to participate in
regional capacity building exercises designed to reduce
cross-border wildlife trafficking under SAWEN.

UN Human Rights Council
--------------


9. (SBU) The GOI shares our concerns with the Defamation of
Religions resolution in the UN Human Rights Council. India
also finds the resolution objectionable because it believes
it singles out Islam and may equate race with religion.
However, the GOI is likely to abstain rather than vote
against such a resolution. It is not yet clear whether India
will introduce its Tolerance and Pluralism resolution this
year. India is likely to abstain from voting on Burma and
DPRK Human Rights resolutions, and any decision regarding
Iran will be formulated at the highest levels. On the other
hand, the GOI is supportive of the resolution on the
Elimination of Discrimination Against Women and is interested
in passing a resolution on the Rights of the Child.

Domestic Politics
--------------


10. (SBU) The strong performance by the Congress Party and
its United Progressive Alliance (UPA) allies in India's
springtime national elections has provided the Congress Party
with a mandate to govern, after years of battling leftist and
regional coalition "partners" over issues including a closer
relationship with the United States and economic
liberalization. Congress Party leaders attribute its strong
showing in the elections to the close attention it paid to
the rural sector during the previous government.
Accordingly, the UPA's budget focuses most new spending on a
rural employment program and rural infrastructure. India's
only other national party, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP),
has been plagued by internal bickering since its stunning
defeat in the national elections.

Aspirations but Roadblocks
--------------


11. (SBU) India is a regional power that aspires to become a
global player. Although the Congress Party's victory set the
stage for bolder moves on its foreign policy agenda,

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significant challenges remain. India's sluggish bureaucracy
is stove piped and suffers from a lack of capacity and
flexibility in every sector. Many senior officials who
entered government service during the Cold War era still
cling to "non-aligned" shibboleths of the 1960s and 1970s.
Furthermore, India's Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) sees
itself as the primary interlocutor with foreigners and often
hinders other ministries from directly engaging with their
foreign counterparts. The extreme level of domestic poverty
also stands in stark contrast to India's global ambitions.
While India's poverty levels have fallen in the past decade
as the economy has grown, hundreds of millions of Indians
continue to subsist on less than USD 2 dollars a day. India
is home to the third-largest number of people living with
HIV/AIDS and one-fourth of the world's tuberculosis cases.
It is one of four nations in which polio still exists.

Meet the Ministries
--------------


12. (SBU) Established in 2006, the Ministry of Women and
Child Development (MWCD) formulates policies and coordinates
the efforts of the GOI and NGOs working in the field of women
and children development. Although the MWCD serves as the
GOI's coordinator for anti-trafficking policies and programs,
its ability to enhance interagency coordination across the
bureaucracy remains weak since several other
ministries--i.e., the Home Affairs Ministry and the Law
Ministry-- possess more power. The Ministry of Home Affairs
(MHA) is responsible for state-center relations, border
management, and internal security. Protecting India from
terrorist attacks has increasingly taken more of the
ministry's time. Although law enforcement is a state
responsibility, MHA has can give states guidance on
law-and-order issues. The Ministry of Environment and
Forests focuses on the conservation of India's natural
resources. It also serves as India's nodal agency for
climate change and its activist head, Minister Jairam Ramesh,
has influenced India's negotiating position in the run-up to
the Copenhagen climate talks.

India's Development Assistance Abroad
--------------


13. (SBU) India has pledged USD 1.3 billion in assistance
over ten years to Afghanistan in infrastructure projects,
humanitarian assistance, education/capacity development, and
small/community based development projects (funding 100 small
projects). India is the largest contributor of foreign
assistance to Nepal. The GOI has pledged USD 137.5 million
to fund a road development project in Nepal. India also
plans to fund a police academy, integrated checkpoints along
the India-Nepal border, and an upgraded rail link with Nepal.
India's foreign assistance to Sri Lanka funds development
projects for education, health, and infrastructure. In the
wake of the LTTE's defeat, the GOI has funded demining
efforts, donated food aid, and provided over USD 100 million
to rehabilitate war victims in Sri Lanka's northern and
eastern areas.

Your Meetings and Events
--------------


14. (SBU) The GOI is looking forward to the GIF. MEA has
told us that most, if not all, of the senior officials we
have requested will be available to meet with you:
Environment and Forests Minister Ramesh, Women and Child
Development Minister Tirath, Foreign Secretary Rao, Home
Affairs Secretary Pillai, and Environment and Forests
Secretary Sharma.
ROEMER