US embassy cable - 05NEWDELHI5115

UNCLAS NEW DELHI 005115 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV, ETTC, KNNP, PARM, IN, GOI, Export Control Initiatives 
SUBJECT: INDIA'S ASSESSMENT OF THE EXBS PROGRAM: "TRAIN THE 
TRAINER" 
 
REF: NEW DELHI 4947 
 
1.  (SBU) MEA Under Secretary (Disarmament and International 
Security) Nutan Kapoor gave PolMilOff a brief overview of an 
internal GOI assessment of recent EXBS events on July 5. 
According to Kapoor, MEA surveyed GOI officials that 
participated in EXBS events in the past year and found that 
while the courses were "very useful," they could be better 
targeted as "train the trainer" sessions for mid-level GOI 
officials to train entry-level staff.  She also underscored 
the importance the GOI places on the courses being 
"interactive," i.e., sharing information equally about USG 
and GOI export control systems, not just presenting 
information about the US system.  She provided specific 
feedback on the following EXBS events: 
 
Industry Outreach (May 2005) 
---------------------------- 
 
2.  (U) Kapoor stated that participants found this outreach 
event in Washington and Florida to be very useful.  The GOI 
would like more of these kind of events, with more exposure 
to officials from different industry sectors. 
 
Threat and Risk Management Workshop (April 2005) 
--------------------------------------------- --- 
 
3.  (U) Like other courses, the training modules were aimed 
at entry-level inspectors, not the mid-level GOI managers 
that attended the course.  Kapoor noted that the US trainers 
seemed appreciative of GOI presentations in the workshop. 
 
Customs Enforcement (Dec 2004) 
------------------------------ 
 
4.  (U) Again, there was a "mismatch" between the basic 
course material and the mid-level management that attended 
the course, according to Kapoor. 
 
Automated Licensing Software (Sept 2004) 
---------------------------------------- 
 
5.  (U) In the future, the GOI would like the course oriented 
toward India's export control list, SCOMET.  She stated that 
the GOI would also like to demonstrate the licensing software 
that the GOI is developing. 
 
WMD Seaport Course (expected in Sept. 2005) 
------------------------------------------- 
 
6.  (U) Per Reftel, the GOI has agreed to host the follow-on 
EXBS WMD seaport training either September 19-23 or the week 
of Sepetmber 26 at the Customs Academy in Delhi, vice Mumbai 
and/or Calcutta, as suggested by the USG.  Further, the GOI 
would like the training to target mid-level Customs 
officials/trainers, not field-level Customs officials. 
 
Comment 
------- 
 
7.  (SBU) GOI complaints about the mismatch between the level 
of the information presented in the EXBS courses and their 
level of participation are not new and are offered in a 
spirit of constructive criticism.  The GOI wants to use these 
courses to "train the trainer" rather than provide direct 
training to on-the-ground inspectors, as the USG would like. 
However, in the GOI system, mid-level officials change 
positions every 2-4 years, making it difficult to develop the 
cadre of experienced trainers that the GOI needs. 
BLAKE