US embassy cable - 05NEWDELHI3333

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 NEW DELHI 003333 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/02/2015 
TAGS: PREL, KDEM, IN, KG, UNSC 
SUBJECT: INDIA STILL PONDERING UN REFORMS, DEMOCRACY 
PROMOTION 
 
REF: A. NEW DELHI 3252 
 
     B. 04 NEW DELHI 7675 
 
Classified By: Charge Robert Blake, for Reasons 1.4 (B, D) 
 
1.  (C) Summary: In a May 3 meeting with PolCouns and Poloff, 
MEA Joint Secretary (UN Political) Hamid Ali Rao welcomed the 
upcoming visit of the Secretary's Adviser on UN Reform Shirin 
Tahir-Kheli and requested more details on Washington's 
position on UN reform proposals.  He acknowledged that India 
faced a political dilemma on whether to press for a veto or 
not, and expressed interest in further discussions of 
US-India cooperation on democracy promotion, which we expect 
to be on the May 17-18 Global Issues Forum agenda.  End 
Summary. 
 
2.  (C) Rao observed that after the recent visit of Kofi 
Annan to India, action on UNSC reform option has moved back 
to New York.  Although the Secretary General had been 
supportive of India's "legitimate" desire for inclusion in 
the Security Council, Rao complained that the singular press 
focus on Annan's dismissal of an expanded veto (Ref A) 
"unfairly" tainted his otherwise positive comments.  The GOI 
is looking forward to upcoming interaction with Ambassador 
Shirin Tahir-Kheli in Washington and New Delhi, and is 
appreciative of early USG engagement with India on UN reform. 
 Rao noted that India has not yet initiated formal 
discussions with other P-5 countries on the other UN reform 
issues, as it is still working out its own positions on them. 
 
3.  (C) Acknowledging that public opinion would make it 
politically difficult for the GOI to accept a permanent seat 
without a veto, Rao did not further specify an Indian 
position, but referred us to the April 28 statement made by 
the Indian UN Mission during informal consultations in the GA 
on the Secretary-General's report.  (Note: This statement 
repeated India's support for action before September, and 
played for support from its NAM friends, accusing "those 
making attempts to postpone UNSC expansion" of working 
against the interests of developing countries, "in 
particular, Africa."  End Note) 
 
4.  (C) Although the statement from the Indian Mission did 
not address the veto issue, Rao stated that the GOI position 
has been evolving since Foreign Secretary Saran's December 
speech on the subject (Ref B), which was silent on the veto. 
Press reports speculate that India will have to choose 
whether to join the other G-4 countries in a June framework 
resolution in the UNGA supporting the High Level Panel's 
option A (new permanent members without veto), or break ranks 
and continue to insist on a seat with veto.  Rao was frank 
about the political difficulties that the Parliamentary 
insistence on a veto has created. 
 
5.  (C) Rao agreed with PolCouns's point that UN reform 
efforts had to include broader questions beyond the Security 
Council, but commented that the UNSYG's suggestions on areas 
other than the UNSC are vague.  He requested further detail 
of Washington's views on these proposals, and agreed to try 
to develop an analogous summary of GOI positions, 
acknowledging that the Indian views on many issues, including 
peacekeeping operations, ECOSOC, and UNCHR reform are not 
finalized. 
 
6.  (C) Highlighting the Secretary's April 28 remarks at the 
Community of Democracies Ministerial in Santiago, PolCouns 
underlined the importance of democracy promotion by networks 
of democratic nations, independent of UN reform proposals, 
and flagged democracy promotion as an area of interest for 
the May 17-18 Global Issues Forum.  Rao agreed that the 
US-India coordination on Nepal and support for the Afghan 
Parliament could serve as a model for future cooperation. 
PolCouns cited recent coordination between our Ambassadors in 
Kyrgyzstan as an example of the expanding horizons for 
US-India democracy promotion efforts, and encouraged further 
GOI thinking in this area.  Rao agreed that the 
Administration's focus on democracy as a guiding principle 
for US foreign policy had been inadequately understood by the 
New Delhi strategic community. 
BLAKE