US embassy cable - 05NEWDELHI2189

C O N F I D E N T I A L NEW DELHI 002189 
 
SIPDIS 
 
EB/ESC/TFS FOR DNELSON 
S/CT FOR TKUSHNER 
IO/PSC FOR BFITZGERALD 
NSC FOR KEMERSON 
TREASURY FOR JZARATE 
OFAC FOR RWERNER 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/21/2015 
TAGS: KTFN, EFIN, PTER, ETTC, PREL, IN, PK, Counter-Terrorism 
SUBJECT: TERRORIST FINANCE: LET PRENOTIFICATION 
 
REF: A. STATE 49537 
     B. 04 NEW DELHI 5486 
 
Classified By: PolCouns Geoff Pyatt, for Reasons 1.4 (B, D) 
 
1.  (C) PolCouns and Poloff on March 22 delivered Ref A 
talking points and supporting non-paper to newly ensconced 
MEA Joint Secretary (Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iran) Dilip 
Sinha.  Sinha welcomed the news of adding Lashkar-e-Tayyiba 
(LeT) to the UNSC 1267 Committee list of organizations 
affiliated with al-Qaida and the Taliban as "an important 
step" and agreed to hold the information in confidence until 
after Washington and Ottawa formally submit LeT to the UN 
1267 Sanctions Committee on March 28.  PolCouns reminded 
Sinha that adding LeT to the UN counterterrorism list was 
subsequent to a discussion between then S/CT Coordinator 
Ambassador Cofer Black and MEA Additional Secretary Meera 
Shankar during the August-September 2004 US-India 
Counterterrorism Joint Working Group (Ref B) and expressed 
the hope that this step would help to create a climate for 
further progress on the Indo-Pak Composite Dialogue. 
 
2.  (C) On the related issue of terrorist infiltration from 
Pakistani Kashmir into J&K, Sinha observed that the heavy 
snowfall this year would delay the opening of the passes used 
for infiltration, and that the GOI would have to wait until 
May-June to assess if the stated drop in infiltration was due 
to weather or to changed policies in Islamabad.  Sinha's 
predecessor, Arun K. Singh, noted that LeT had well 
documented connections to the Pakistan Army, and expressed 
the hope that our step would encourage Islamabad to sever 
these ties. 
 
3.  (C) Separately, Poloff and Canadian PolCouns delivered 
the same Ref A talking points and non-paper -- as well as a 
nearly identical Canadian version of the non-paper -- to MEA 
Director (Americas) Renu Pall on March 22.  Pall was as 
positive as Sinha in receiving the prenotification, and 
agreed on the importance of keeping the information tightly 
held.  She recalled the Black-Shankar conversation, 
appreciated Washington and Ottawa taking this action against 
LeT, and indicated that she would forward the prenotification 
to MEA's senior leadership. 
 
4.  (C) ECON will deliver the same information to its 
contacts at the Finance Ministry. 
MULFORD