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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 NEW DELHI 001562 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
FOR EAP/MLS AARON COPE 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PHUM EAID BM IN
SUBJECT: INDIA URGED TO PRESS BURMA ON ALLOWING AID TO 
REACH CYCLONE NARGIS VICTIMS 
 
REF: STATE 59122 
 
¶1. (SBU)  SUMMARY:  A/PolCouns urged MEA Director 
(Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Burma) I.M. Pandey on June 6 to press 
Burma harder to allow international aid supplies and workers 
to reach victims of Cyclone Nargis.  Pandey cited India's 
difficulties in getting aid into Burma, noting that direct 
access to the Irrawaddy Delta had been denied and that the 
GOB had not allowed India a role in the distribution of the 
aid supplies it delivered to Burmese airports.  Pandey 
defended India's decision to honor the strict conditions the 
GOB has placed on accepting aid, stating that "pressure and 
sanctions on Burma have never worked" and would only 
complicate relief efforts.  Post expects the Indian 
government will privately ask the Burmese government to 
fulfill its promises to cooperate fully with international 
relief efforts, but will not exert any real pressure.  END 
SUMMARY. 
 
INDIA ASKED TO BRING MORE PRESSURE ON BURMA TO ACCEPT AID 
 
¶2. (U)  A/PolCouns met with MEA Director (Bangladesh, Sri 
Lanka, Burma) I.M. Pandey on June 6 to deliver reftel 
demarche and to urge the GOI to press Burma harder to allow 
international aid supplies and workers to reach victims of 
Cyclone Nargis.  Noting India's considerable influence with 
the GOB, A/PolCouns pressed the GOI to exploit that influence 
privately to urge the GOB to allow more access for 
international relief workers into devastated areas and also 
to make public statements designed to bring further pressure 
to bear on the GOB.  Pandey stated that the GOI has asked the 
GOB to accept international aid, resulting in the GOB 
allowing several countries, including the U.S. and India, to 
fly in aid to selected airports.  Pandey added that the GOB 
has allowed some foreign aid workers into Burma including two 
successive 24-person teams of Indian medical doctors, the 
most recent of which returned to India on June 5.  Pandey 
noted that the GOI has requested, and has not yet received 
permission from the GOB for direct access to the Irrawaddy 
Delta.  A/PolCouns asked the GOI to keep pressing the GOB on 
this request, on behalf of the entire international community. 
 
GOI DESCRIBES BURMESE RESTRICTIONS ON AID 
 
¶3. (U)  A/PolCouns thanked the GOI for the large amounts of 
Cyclone relief it has provided to Burma, and requested a 
comprehensive, detailed description of India's aid to date, 
which Pandey agreed to forward to Post.  Admitting that the 
GOI has no plans at the moment for sending further aid, 
Pandey briefly described the background of GOI relief 
efforts, explaining how immediately after Cyclone Nargis tore 
through Burma India's Embassy in Rangoon reached out to the 
GOB to offer help. The GOB, recounted Pandey, requested 
medicine, roofing materials and ready-to-eat meals from 
India, but it stipulated that the aid supplies should be 
released to the GOB at the airport, and that India would not 
be allowed a role in the distribution of aid. Pandey stressed 
that the GOI agreed without reservations to these conditions. 
 Pandey emphasized that the GOI has and will continue to 
avoid pressuring the GOB, and is "sensitive" to the GOB's 
political wishes, and will comply with the GOB's conditions 
to not politicize any aspect of relief efforts.  Pandey 
stated that the GOI does not support a strategy of applying 
pressure (such as sanctions) on the GOB, as it considers 
these counter-productive. 
 
COMMENT: EXPECT PRIVATE NUDGING, AT BEST 
 
¶4. (SBU) Pandey told us he had discussed our demarche with 
his boss, Joint Secretary T. S. Tiramurti, and suggested that 
Tiramurti acknowledged the Burmese government had not lived 
up to its promises to allow full access to international aid 
workers.  However, Pandey reiterated that the Indian 
government does not believe "pressure" is an effective way to 
influence the junta.  Pandey did agree that India, for the 
benefit of the international community, could be helpful in 
 
NEW DELHI 00001562  002 OF 002 
 
 
pointing out to the GOB that it has not followed through on 
promises made to UN SYG Ban, or the Indian government.  While 
Pandey was non-committal on actions the GOI would take, based 
on his acknowledgment that Indian relief efforts could 
benefit from a further opening of restrictions, Post expects 
India will make a low-level, low-pressure "request" to the 
GOB to live up to its commitments and allow full access for 
international aid workers.  END COMMENT. 
MULFORD