US embassy cable - 05DUBLIN1334

C O N F I D E N T I A L DUBLIN 001334 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/31/2015 
TAGS: PREL, PARM, KNNP, IN, EI 
SUBJECT: IRELAND STILL NON-COMMITTAL ON U.S.-INDIA NUCLEAR 
COOPERATION 
 
REF: A. STATE 190856 
     B. DUBLIN 1152 
 
Classified By: Political-Economic Counselor Mary E. Daly; Reasons 1.4 ( 
B) and (D). 
 
1.  (C) On October 26, Post delivered ref A demarche to 
Therese Healy, Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) First 
Secretary for Disarmament and Nonproliferation, who was an 
 
SIPDIS 
Irish delegate at the October 19-20 NSG Consultative Group 
(CG) meeting in Vienna.  Healy noted that the Irish 
Government had not yet taken a position on proposed 
U.S.-India civil nuclear cooperation, notwithstanding welcome 
presentations on the initiative from the U.S. delegation at 
the CG meeting.  She explained that Ireland would defer 
taking a position pending a U.S. proposal on the sequencing 
of steps envisaged in the initiative, encompassing, most 
importantly, the measures by which India would separate its 
military and civilian nuclear facilities.  She hoped the 
proposal would be forthcoming at a CG meeting to be scheduled 
possibly in March, ahead of the May/June Plenary. 
 
2.  (C) Healy observed that Ireland currently fell somewhere 
between, on one hand, France/UK, which supported the 
initiative, and, on the other, Austria/Sweden, which had 
serious reservations.  The Irish Government's principal 
concern remained the initiative's potential impact on the NPT 
and NSG guidelines (ref B).  She added that, absent fuller 
details on sequencing, there had not been an opportunity for 
discussion among Member State representatives at the CG 
meeting on a possible common EU position.  Healy also 
highlighted other NSG members' hopes that India would take 
steps beyond the proposed initiative, such as halting the 
production of fissile material and acceding to the 
Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty. 
KENNY