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C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 KATHMANDU 001048 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/18/2018 
TAGS: PREL PGOV PTER PHUM ECON EINV MARR PREF KSEC
UN, CH, IN, NP 
SUBJECT: SCENESETTER AND TALKING POINTS FOR MEETING WITH 
PRIME MINISTER DAHAL AT UNGA 
 
REF: A. KATHMANDU 1016 
     ¶B. KATHMANDU 1040 
 
Classified By: Ambassador Nancy J. Powell.  Reasons 1.4 (b/d) 
 
Introduction 
------------ 
 
¶1. (C) During your meeting with Prime Minister Pushpa Dahal 
on the margins of the 63rd UN General Assembly, you should 
raise the following issues: (1) Government of Nepal (GON) 
plans; (2) progress in the peace process and UN Mission in 
Nepal (UNMIN) operations; (3) reining in the Maoist Young 
Communist League; and (4) protection of Tibetan refugees. 
Your meeting will be the Prime Minister's first with a U.S. 
official at the Assistant Secretary level or above. 
 
Bilateral Relations 
------------------- 
 
¶2. (C) Bilateral relations with the new Maoist-led coalition 
government have been less rocky than one might have expected 
given the Maoists' history of anti-U.S. rhetoric and the 
continued U.S. listing of the CPN-M on both the terrorist 
exclusion list and the specially designated global terrorist 
list.  So far, the GON has expressed eagerness for the U.S. 
to maintain, if not increase, its assistance and engagement 
in Nepal, including military assistance.  There has been no 
reduction in the level of government security provided to the 
U.S. Mission. 
 
Government of Nepal Plans 
------------------------- 
 
¶3. (C) Based on less than three weeks in office, the GON's 
performance reveals some grounds for optimism.  On the plus 
side, key members of the cabinet (PM, Foreign, Defense, Home, 
Peace & Reconstruction) seem to know what they want to 
accomplish and to be pursuing those goals energetically. 
Nepalis appear to be generally satisfied with the GON's 
response to its initial crisis -- the failure of the Koshi 
River embankment on August 18.  On the minus side, the more 
than USD 3 billion 08/09 budget expected on September 19 
would far outstrip previous combined revenue, foreign aid and 
internal loan estimates and may contain huge increases in 
populist programs that could result in economic problems. 
The 601-member Constituent Assembly (CA) has yet to finalize 
its rules of procedure or elect its leaders.  The drafting of 
a new constitution has not begun.  All the major parties are 
riven with internal dissension leaving the current coalition 
extraordinarily unstable. 
 
Talking Points: 
-- Commitment to non-violence and democracy the basis for a 
normal relationship with us; 
-- GON needs to provide governance, address service and 
infrastructure needs, get CA up and running; 
-- Attracting foreign investment/tourism will require law and 
order, protection of private property, functioning government 
 
Progress In the Peace Process and UNMIN Operations 
--------------------------------------------- ----- 
 
¶4. (C) UN Special Representative Ian Martin reports 
significant divisions among Maoist party members (and other 
parties) over the composition and control of the 146/Special 
Committee that the cabinet is to name to manage integration 
and rehabilitation of the People's Liberation Army (PLA). 
Martin believes the GON should concentrate in the short term 
on: (a) removing the 4,000 non-combatants in the PLA 
cantonments, including approximately 2,000 minors, and 
establishing appropriate re-integration programs; (b) 
consolidating the current 28 cantonments into 7; and (c) 
consolidating arms from the 7 main cantonments into one 
location and/or destroying them.  These measures could be 
taken relatively rapidly, should not require a decision by 
 
KATHMANDU 00001048  002 OF 002 
 
 
the 146 Committee and will allow UNMIN to show progress and 
reduce its staff further.  We should promote these proposals 
for immediate GON action.  The GON also needs to determine as 
soon as possible its need for a further extension of UNMIN. 
 
Talking Points: 
-- Welcome your decision to step down as PLA supreme 
commander; 
-- Urge immediate formation of 146 Committee; 
-- Urge immediate consolidation of camps and arms, as well as 
removal of children and other ineligibles; 
-- Request a determination ASAP if UNMIN extension is desired 
after January 23, 2009 expiration of current mandate 
 
Reining In the Young Communist League 
------------------------------------- 
 
¶5. (C) Although the CPN-M chairman has repeatedly committed 
to ending lawlessness by the Maoist Young Communist League 
(YCL), abuses continue.  The reports the Embassy received in 
August -- which the UN Office of the High Commissioner for 
Human Rights corroborated -- of YCL torturing drug users over 
a period of months at a "rehabilitation center" in Kathmandu 
were the latest example.  The UML has already drawn the wrong 
lesson by establishing a militant youth wing of its own.  The 
NC is considering taking the same step. 
 
Talking Points: 
-- Fulfill pledges on YCL and end YCL abuses immediately; 
-- They are reinforcing widespread culture of impunity, could 
lead to return to insurgency 
 
Protecting Tibetan Refugees 
--------------------------- 
 
¶6. (C) Assuming the Indian Ambassador agrees when he returns 
to Kathmandu on September 19, the 100-plus undocumented 
Tibetans whom the police arrested and handed over to the 
Tibetan Reception Center will be sent to India under the 
so-called Gentlemen's Agreement.  In response to the recent 
crackdown, the Tibetan "government-in-exile" appears to have 
ordered a stop to near daily protests in prohibited areas 
outside the Chinese Embassy and Consulate.  Bamdev Gautam, 
the new Home Minister, insisted September 16 that he had no 
intention of rounding up undocumented Tibetans or of 
deporting any Tibetan refugees to China. 
 
Talking Point: 
-- Urge GON to allow Tibetan refugees to conduct lawful 
protests; no deportations to China 
POWELL