VZCZCXRO7431
OO RUEHAST RUEHBI RUEHCI RUEHLH RUEHPW
DE RUEHNE #1622/01 1641114
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 121114Z JUN 08
FM AMEMBASSY NEW DELHI
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 2174
INFO RUCNCLS/ALL SOUTH AND CENTRAL ASIA COLLECTIVE
RUCNNSG/NUCLEAR SUPPLIERS GROUP COLLECTIVE
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC
RHEBAAA/DEPT OF ENERGY WASHINGTON DC
RUEKJCS/JOINT STAFF WASHDC
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHDC
RUEHUNV/USMISSION UNVIE VIENNA 1502
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK 6516

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 NEW DELHI 001622 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL PARM TSPL KNNP ETTC ENRG TRGY IN
SUBJECT: INDIA THINKS BIG BUT DOES LITTLE AT DISARMAMENT 
CONFERENCE 
 
 
¶1. (SBU) Summary: A June 9-10 disarmament conference in New 
Delhi commemorated the 20th anniversary of the Rajiv Gandhi 
Action Plan on disarmament, but produced little in terms of 
concrete commitments by the Indian government.  In his 
inauguration, the Prime Minister reaffirmed India's 
commitment to develop nuclear energy, and outlined "global 
and non-discriminatory" measures that it has proposed in a UN 
working paper.  While participants used the conference as an 
opportunity to criticize the U.S. and Russian nuclear 
policies, they refrained from calling on India to take 
unilateral action.  Confronted with an abundance of 
pie-in-the-sky idealism about a nuclear-free world, most of 
the attendees focused on the threat of nuclear terrorism and 
the usefulness of a "no first use" policy.  End Summary. 
 
Prime Minister Calls for Disarmament, but Nuclear Initiative 
Makes Headlines 
- - - 
 
¶2. (SBU) In his inaugural address to the June 9-10 conference 
on "Towards a World Free of Nuclear Weapons," Prime Minister 
Manmohan Singh invoked the 1988 Rajiv Gandhi Action Plan and 
called for "nuclear disarmament that is global, universal and 
non-discriminatory in nature."  He noted that India recently 
submitted a Working Paper on Nuclear Disarmament to the UN 
General Assembly, and highlighted several measures proposed 
in the paper, including "reduction of the salience of nuclear 
weapons in security doctrines" and "negotiation of a 
convention on the complete prohibition of the use or threat 
of use of nuclear weapons."  He concluded by emphasizing that 
India planned to help craft "a consensus on disarmament and 
nonproliferation." 
 
¶3. (SBU) Despite the overriding message advocating global 
disarmament, the press pointed to one paragraph that 
reiterated the Indian government's need for nuclear energy to 
meet rising energy demand.  "We therefore wish to create an 
international environment in which nuclear technology is used 
not for destructive purposes but for helping us meet our 
national development goals and our energy security," the 
Prime Minister said.  The Times of India translated this into 
its June 10 headline, "N-deal must for energy needs: Prime 
Minister," while the Hindustan Times titled its article, 
"Can't Limit Energy Options: PM." 
 
Mukherjee, Ansari and Aiyar Repeat PM's Message 
- - - 
 
¶4. (SBU) As further emphasis of the government's role in 
sponsoring the conference, External Affairs Minister Pranab 
Mukherjee hosted the participants at a June 9 dinner, during 
which he gave a speech that again invoked the 1988 Action 
Plan and reiterated the PM's points.  Vice-President Hamid 
Ansari provided the valedictory speech June 10, stressed the 
call for disarmament.  "The case for the possession of 
nuclear weapons needs to be assessed in strategic, legal, 
political, financial, developmental and environmental terms. 
Nuclear armament ends up being, in its implications, 
anti-poor and anti-development," he stated.  He exhorted the 
global community to question the legitimacy of possessing 
nuclear weapons and agree on a way forward on disarmament. 
 
¶5. (SBU) Panchayati Raj Minister Mani Shankar Aiyar recalled 
his stint as Rajiv Gandhi's aide when Gandhi proposed the 
Action Plan.  Aiyar distinguished himself in the conference 
by openly disagreeing with the choice to conduct nuclear 
tests in 1998.  "Did India's tests reduce its legitimacy to 
ask for global disarmament?" he asked.  "We lost our shine, 
but not our right to ask for disarmament."  Aiyar contended 
that India still acted as a "threshold" nuclear weapons state 
because of its "unambiguous" no first use policy and 
resistance to engaging in an arms race.  He supported the 
Prime Minister's call to resurrect the Rajiv Gandhi Action 
Plan and proposed convening a group of states interested in 
reaching consensus on global disarmament. 
 
Focus on Nuclear Terrorism 
- - - 
 
¶6. (SBU) Amidst the lofty rhetoric about global disarmament 
and rampant criticism of the U.S. and Russian arsenals voiced 
by most international guest speakers, the Indian attendees 
concentrated on more concrete issues.  The discussion 
 
NEW DELHI 00001622  002 OF 002 
 
 
following the first session, titled "Nuclear Weapons in the 
Contemporary World," narrowed on Jawarharlal Nehru University 
Professor Rajesh Rajagopalan's contention that terrorists 
have stayed away from nuclear weapons because using them 
would de-legitimize their cause.  He advised governments to 
continue to make nuclear weapons taboo, but noted that legal 
disarmament measures, such as international treaties, would 
do little to dissuade terrorists.  Instead, he suggested that 
governments take actions like de-mating weapons which would 
make it more difficult for terrorists to acquire a nuclear 
capability.  Several participants, such as Reshmi Kazi from 
the Institute for Defense and Strategic Analysis (IDSA), 
countered that Al Qaeda's political agenda would not prevent 
the group from using nuclear weapons.  Criticizing the focus 
on terrorists at a disarmament conference, M.R. Srinivasan, 
former Chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission, also noted 
that "nuclear weapons are the wrong weapons in anyone's 
hands, not just the wrong hands." 
 
Is No First Use A Legitimate CBM? 
- - - 
 
¶7. (SBU) The question-and-answer session on "Designing a 
Nuclear World" also narrowed to whether a No First Use (NFU) 
declaration could qualify as a confidence-building measure. 
Manpreet Sethi of the Center for Strategic and International 
Studies (CSIS) advocated for countries to take No First Use 
pledges, which she saw as a "crucial step towards the 
eventual delegitimization of nuclear weapons since it would 
involve an assurance from every country that it would not be 
the first to introduce nuclear weapons into a conflict." 
However, Arundhati Ghose, former Indian Ambassador to the 
Conference on Disarmament, questioned the efficacy of NFU. 
She noted that a country that adopts NFU would have to retain 
the capability to survive and respond to a first strike, 
which would make its arsenal larger.  While a universal NFU 
would have a clear deterrent effect, declaratory NFUs, such 
as India's, have little impact. 
 
Nonproliferation In an Age of Nuclear Renaissance 
- - - 
 
¶8. (SBU) George Perkovic of the Carnegie Endowment for 
International Peace explored the prospects for 
nonproliferation at a time of unprecedented expansion in the 
lemand for civilian nuclear power.  The global diffusion of 
enrichment capacity necessary to fuel this demand runs 
counter to nonproliferation goals.  States could be dissuaded 
from seeking domestic enrichment capabilities only if assured 
that a sufficient supply of nuclear material, but Perkovic 
suggested that many states -- discussion touched on Iran -- 
would not find such an arrangement at all credible unless 
fuel cycle capabilities were managed internationally rather 
than controlled by each state. 
 
Comment: Disarmament Still Takes Second Place to Nuclear Deal 
- - - 
 
¶9. (SBU) Political contacts have indicated that several 
Congress Party politicians who lack enthusiasm for the 
nuclear initiative proposed this disarmament conference as a 
way of shifting the government's focus to a Nehruvian 
disarmament program which would realign the Congress with the 
Left.  However, as shown by the media's focus on the PM's 
remarks on nuclear energy and lack of attention to the 
overriding message on a nuclear-free world, the organizers 
did not succeed.  Moreover, the day after the conference 
ended, the Prime Minister dismissed the possibility of India 
signing a Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) while pushing 
for the conclusion of the nuclear initiative.  The 
conference, however, may have its use, by exposing many 
international critics of the nuclear deal (all of whom 
carefully skirted the issue during their presentations) to 
the gray area of India's call for global disarmament and 
maintenance of a nuclear weapons program. 
DAVISON