DEMARCHE REQUEST: INDIA AND LET 1267 DESIGNATIONS

S E C R E T STATE 023142 E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/11/2019 TAGS: EFIN PTER IN SUBJECT: DEMARCHE REQUEST: INDIA AND LET 1267 DESIGNATIONS REF: USUN NY 236 Classified By: SCA DAS Michael Owen for reasons 1.4(b) and (d) ¶1. (U) This is an action request for Embassy New Delhi. See paragraph 3. ¶2. (S) India's UN mission told USUN (Ref ) that India is ready to move forward on UN 1267 designations for three Lashkar-e-Tayyiba (LET) members; Masood Azhar, Azam Cheema, and Hafiz Abdul Rahman Makki. The U.S. is now working, along with its allies, to lay the groundwork to designate a number of senior Pakistan-based Lashkar operatives, but efforts to attain consensus in the U.S. Interagency and with other 1267 member countries and allies may mean this package is not formally presented to the 1267 Committee for a few more months. We believe that if the Government of India proposes designations of Pakistan-based Lashkar operatives it will be extremely difficult for the designations to make it through the 1267 Committee and will further complicate the Government of Pakistan,s ability and/or impede its will to move forward with the Mumbai investigations. In our view, India,s direct involvement may serve to heighten Pakistan,s reluctance not only regarding any planned Lashkar-e-Tayyiba designations, but also regarding terrorism sanctions more generally. ¶3. (C) ACTION REQUEST: Post is requested to approach the appropriate Indian Government officials and strongly encourage that the Indian government not take the proposed Lashkar-e-Tayyiba designation package before the UN 1267 Committee at this time but rather work with the United States and other interested partners in coming up with a coordinated strategy that is most likely to achieve success within the 1267 Committee. We are also interested in any information India has on these three (Azhar, Cheema, and Makki),so we can build a stronger case together. CLINTON