US embassy cable - 05NEWDELHI2262

C O N F I D E N T I A L NEW DELHI 002262 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR WHA/CCA, DRL/MLA, IO/SHA, AND SA/INS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/23/2015 
TAGS: PHUM, KDEM, PINR, IN, CU, NP, Human Rights 
SUBJECT: FURTHER INDIAN THOUGHTS ON UNCHR61 
 
REF: A. STATE 42847 
 
     B. STATE 49957 
     C. STATE 45975 
     D. NEW DELHI 2186 
     E. NEW DELHI 2220 
 
Classified By: PolCouns Geoffrey Pyatt.  Reasons 1.4 (B, D) 
 
1.  (C) Following up on our recent demarche on Cuba (Refs A 
and B), PolCouns and Poloff met with MEA Joint Secretary (UN 
Political) Hamid Ali Rao and incoming Joint Secretary (UN 
Economic and Social) Manjeev Puri on March 24 to review our 
UNCHR priorities.  Recalling the recent statements by the PM 
and Foreign Secretary (Ref E) regarding India's commitment to 
liberal democracy in its foreign policy, PolCouns urged the 
GOI to use the ongoing UNCHR session to side with the USG in 
supporting democratic objectives.  Emphasizing India's 
"moderating" role among Non-aligned Movement and developing 
states, Rao responded that India would like to reach 
consensus with the US especially on a resolution on the right 
to development, but reiterated continuing GOI opposition to 
country-specific resolutions, including Cuba.  (Note: As 
discussed Ref D, a Washington approach may help emphasize our 
Cuba position.  End Note.)  Rao reiterated that India's major 
contribution in the UNCHR context is its moderating influence 
on others. 
 
2.  (C) PolCouns noted that the Community of Democracies (CD) 
represents another opportunity for US-India cooperation that 
fits the newly-energized GOI mission of promoting democracy. 
Rao agreed that both the CD and the UNCHR are venues that 
India uses to advance democracy, but stated that India's 
role, though useful, is "different from that of other 
democracies," highlighting India's historically strong ties 
with the developing world. 
 
3.  (C) Rao also outlined New Delhi's concern that UNCHR 
mandates have become "too broad, overlapping, and impossible 
to fulfill."  He stated that the GOI would like to reform the 
mandate of the UNCHR to eliminate these weaknesses, observing 
that such a reform would improve the work of the Commission. 
We will continue to engage the GOI on UNCHR reform to 
identify areas of agreement (Ref C). 
 
New Joint Secretary for UN Economic and Social: Bio Note 
--------------------------------------------- ----------- 
 
4.  (SBU) We were joined in the meeting by Manjeev Puri, who 
assumed the position of Joint Secretary (UN Economic and 
Social) on March 23.  The brother of Indian Ambassador to 
Geneva Hardip Puri, former Joint Secretary (US and Canada), 
Puri was last posted in Muscat.  His previous MEA assignments 
included four years as Deputy Chief of Protocol, in which 
role he interacted intensively with White House personnel on 
advance work for President Clinton's India visit.  Puri spoke 
warmly of his past interaction with Embassy officers, and 
appeared eager to revive his official contacts with the US. 
MULFORD