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FM AMEMBASSY NEW DELHI
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 9366
INFO RUEHXP/ALL NATO POST COLLECTIVE
RUCNCLS/ALL SOUTH AND CENTRAL ASIA COLLECTIVE
RUEHZJ/HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL COLLECTIVE
RUEHZG/NATO EU COLLECTIVE
RUEHGG/UN SECURITY COUNCIL COLLECTIVE
RUEHUNV/USMISSION UNVIE VIENNA 1311
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK 5669
RUEHGV/USMISSION GENEVA 7385

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 NEW DELHI 005053 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/19/2017 
TAGS: PREL PGOV KPKO KUNR USUN IN
SUBJECT: SUGGESTIONS FOR AREAS OF FOCUSED COOPERATION IN 
THE UN WITH INDIA 
 
REF: A. NEW DELHI 02916 
     ¶B. STATE 141727 
 
Classified By: POLCOUNS Ted Osius for reasons 1.4 (b,d) 
 
¶1. (C) Summary.  In preparation for Assistant Secretary 
Silverberg's November 30 meeting with Additional Secretary 
K.C. Singh, Post would like to suggest several UN-related 
issues ripe 
for closer collaboration with the GOI.  These 
include peacekeeping, religious freedom, UN budget reform, 
energy 
security, maritime security, and global disaster relief. End 
Summary. 
 
¶2. (C) Ref B described the concept of selecting 2-3 UN issues 
for future focused cooperation between the U.S. and India. 
As Additional Secretary for International Organizations K.C. 
Singh prepares to depart India for a trip to the U.S. which 
includes a meeting with A/S Silverberg, Post offers the 
following list of potential issues to consider.  Post does 
not consider this list to be all-inclusive.  We merely offer 
some ideas in the hope of stimulating the decision-making 
process. 
 
¶3.  (C) Peacekeeping Operations:  The U.S, as a UN Security 
Council member and the largest contributor of UN funding, 
and India, as one of the largest contributors of UN troops, 
are natural allies in the global peacekeeping effort.  The 
USG and GOI have come together for seven annual bilateral 
Peacekeeping Joint Working Groups (PKOJWG) to share 
information and experiences and explore potential areas of 
cooperation. The GOI maintains a superb international 
training institution for peacekeeping, the Center for UN 
Peacekeeping (CUNPK) in New Delhi, which has hosted 
training events for UN peacekeepers from numerous other 
countries.  During the June 19 US-India PKOJWG, IO PDAS 
James Warlick encouraged the GOI to consider closer 
cooperation with the US-led Global Peacekeeping Operations 
Initiative (GPOI), and the GOI confirmed that it will host 
the joint GPOI/UN-created Senior Mission Leader Course 
(SMLC) training event at the CUNPK in January 2008 
(reftel).  Should we choose this as an area for focused 
cooperation, we could encourage a closer marriage between 
GPOI, the UN, and India,s own peacekeeping training 
programs.  Additionally, we could partner with perhaps 
Japan/Australia to merge the capabilities of developing India 
with the resources of more developed countries.  We could 
also discuss synergies for potential peacekeeping operations. 
 
 
¶4.  (C) Religious Freedom:  The USG and the GOI have voted in 
concert on this issue in the past, and both the U.S. and 
India are respected worldwide for their religious tolerance. 
Particularly at this time, the U.S. post-9/11 and the second 
largest Muslim country in the world (one well-known imam here 
actually counts India as the largest Muslim country) share a 
desire to find common ground between moderate Islam and 
"Islamophobia."  Perhaps building on the goals of the UN 
Democracy Fund and the Community of Democracies, the U.S. and 
India could collaborate on programs to bring greater 
attention to issues of religious freedom, and greater 
assistance to areas where such freedoms are constrained. 
 
¶5.  (C) UN Budget Reform:  India has not been particularly 
cooperative with the U.S. on reform/budgetary issues to this 
point, actually being more in the G77 camp.  However, MEA 
contacts here hint that India, a member of the Advisory 
Committee on Administrative and Budgetary questions (ACABQ), 
is more willing to work with us on UN budget reform than in 
the past.  We could test this with little to lose, given past 
practice, and a lot to gain should we find a new working 
partner on budget issues.  We could explore with officials 
such as K.C. Singh areas of budget reform India would be 
willing to work with us more closely on, and see if it is 
truly ready to work more cooperatively with us. 
 
¶6.  (C) Energy Security/Climate Change: The US-led Asia 
Pacific Partnership (APP) on climate change control is 
garnering much positive support in India, and this effort 
could be expanded, perhaps parallel to the APP, to include 
energy security.  Securing dependable sources of energy is a 
high-priority issue for the GOI, and will only continue to 
increase in urgency, parallel to its increasing GDP growth 
 
NEW DELHI 00005053  002 OF 002 
 
 
rate.  At the same time, India carries a lot of credibility 
with the developing world on issues of global climate change, 
and is active in post-Kyoto Protocol considerations.  Greater 
cooperation with India on these two interrelated issues could 
pay benefits beyond the UN Framework Convention on Climate 
Change and APP, to include closer collaboration in the 
International Energy Agency and other global energy/climate 
change fora. It is worth noting that while India and the US 
have cooperated well on energy issues in the past, we will 
need to consult closely with the GOI on climate change, 
especially if we envision USG positions evolving that will 
have implications for India and China. 
 
¶7. (C) Maritime Security:  Recent incidents of piracy off the 
coast of Africa have caused serious concern for India, not 
only because oil and other resources come to India through 
the Arabian Sea, but also since India perceives its naval 
sphere of influence to ultimately include the span of the 
Indian Ocean.  Along the same lines, India shares an interest 
with the U.S. in keeping sea lanes of communication safe and 
open to merchant trade.  As U.S.-India defense cooperation 
continues to blossom, working together with India within the 
UN on maritime security issues could pay benefits for our 
broader relationship. 
 
¶8. (C) Global Disaster Relief:  This is an area which has 
seen great global cooperation since the tsunami, yet the U.S. 
and India could still do more together to lead within the 
UN,s International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (ISDR) on 
Asian and global disaster relief preparations.  Again, this 
is an area where we could leverage our new security 
relationship, as although India is still squeamish about 
talking about "interoperability" with U.S. forces, developing 
joint capabilities for humanitarian operations would likely 
be attractive politically in New Delhi.  One idea would be 
for the U.S. and India to work together with the 
International Maritime Organization to create a regional 
anti-piracy initiative. 
 
¶9. (C) Comment.  Indian contacts here assure us that India,s 
past practice of constant opposition to U.S. interests in the 
UN does not reflect the character of our new relationship, 
and that we can expect closer cooperation in the future. 
We're eager to see the GOI demonstrate that.  Post stands 
ready to work from New Delhi in putting India to the test to 
carry out its promise that better cooperation is ahead.  Part 
of the problem stems from India's habit of parking diplomatic 
troglodytes in international institutions.  This list of 
ideas for areas of greater cooperation is not meant to cover 
every possibility, but will hopefully be viewed by Washington 
and New York as ideas for further thought. 
MULFORD