US embassy cable - 04COLOMBO1303

C O N F I D E N T I A L COLOMBO 001303 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR SA, SA/INS, IO, IO/T, INL/C/CJ 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/06/2014 
TAGS: PREL, SNAR, AORC, IR, CE 
SUBJECT: COLOMBO PLAN:  ACTION REQUEST FOR AMENDMENT 
PROPOSALS 
 
REF: A. STATE 167626 (NOTAL) 
 
     B. COLOMBO 1268 AND PREVIOUS 
 
Classified By: Ambassador Jeffrey J. Lunstead.  Reasons 1.5(b,d). 
 
1.  (U) This is an Action Request -- please see Para Six. 
 
2.  (C) NO CONSENSUS IN TEHRAN:  At the August 4 Colombo Plan 
Council meeting, the Ambassador stated that the United States 
did not consider the amendment on arrears to be in effect 
since there was no consensus on the issue.  (Note:  This was 
the first Council meeting since the 39th Consultative 
Committee Meeting "CCM" in Tehran in mid-June -- which the 
U.S. did not attend -- when the proposed constitutional 
amendment on arrears was "adopted.")  Elaborating, the 
Ambassador said that the USG position of being unable support 
the proposed amendment had been formally stated before the 
Council in November 2003.  Therefore, there was not consensus 
on the issue, as required by the Colombo Plan constitution, 
and the action of member countries in Tehran to adopt the 
amendment was not valid.  (NB, the Constitution is actually 
somewhat vague, since it says that members "shall endeavor to 
reach agreement by consensus.") 
 
3.  (C) AGREEMENT TO CONVENE WORKING GROUP:  In response to 
U.S. comments, the Colombo Plan Secretary General proposed 
that a working group be convened to develop an amendment that 
would receive support from all countries.  Representatives 
from both Pakistan and Nepal supported the U.S. contention 
that consensus had not been reached and agreed with the 
Secretary General's proposal for a working group. 
 
SIPDIS 
 
4.  (C) The Ambassador underscored that the U.S. supported 
the need for the Secretariat to be able to collect the annual 
dues (14,500 USD per country) in a timely manner.  Further, 
the United States had ideas for a constitutional amendment 
that would not deny training opportunities and would present 
them in the working group.  The Colombo Plan President asked 
the Secretary General to develop the terms of reference for 
the working group and asked the group to present proposals 
for an alternative amendment by the next Council meeting, 
scheduled for November 17, 2004. 
 
5.  (C) COROLLARY:  In May 2004, Cambodia informed the 
Colombo Plan that it was withdrawing its membership from the 
organization.  The Secretary General asked the newly created 
working group to also present ideas on how to address the 
issue that, at present, Cambodia owes the Colombo Plan 
$276,632 in arrears for non-payment from 1977 to present. 
 
6.  (C) ACTION REQUEST:  Mission requests that the Department 
develop alternative amendments that impose penalties on 
member countries in arrears without restricting access to 
training opportunities.  Mission notes that a 
Department-proposed amendment (Ref A) which penalizes member 
states by removing their right to vote may not have any 
impact since there are no voting procedures under the Colombo 
Plan constitution which, as noted above, requires members to 
seek agreement by consensus.  Hence, there is no right to be 
removed.  Instead, we suggest two possible penalty options: 
that a country not be allowed to block consensus or that a 
country be restricted to observer status without a voice in 
Council meetings.  Given the U.S. stand on consensus, we 
believe that these two options may have greater potential in 
gaining support over an amendment that exclusively addresses 
votes.  END ACTION REQUEST. 
 
7.  (U) Minimize Considered. 
 
LUNSTEAD