VZCZCXRO9320
OO RUEHBI RUEHCI RUEHLH RUEHPW
DE RUEHNE #2744/01 2940934
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
O 200934Z OCT 08
FM AMEMBASSY NEW DELHI
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 3837
INFO RUCNCLS/ALL SOUTH AND CENTRAL ASIA COLLECTIVE
RUEHBJ/AMEMBASSY BEIJING 7090
RUEHLO/AMEMBASSY LONDON 5387
RUEHMO/AMEMBASSY MOSCOW 2841
RUEHUL/AMEMBASSY SEOUL 1405
RUEHKO/AMEMBASSY TOKYO 5833
RUEHIN/AIT TAIPEI 0178
RUEHGV/USMISSION GENEVA 7913
RHEHAAA/WHITE HOUSE WASHDC
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC
RUEIDN/DNI WASHINGTON DC
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK 7027
RHMFISS/HQ USCENTCOM MACDILL AFB FL
RHHMUNA/HQ USPACOM HONOLULU HI
RUEKJCS/JOINT STAFF WASHDC

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 NEW DELHI 002744 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/20/2018 
TAGS: PROV PREL JA IN
SUBJECT: PM SINGH TO FOCUS ON SECURITY COOPERATION, 
ECONOMIC RELATIONSHIP IN JAPAN VISIT 
 
Classified By: A/PolCouns Pushpinder Dhillon for Reasons 1.4 (B, D) 
 
¶1. (C) Summary.  Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will focus on 
enhancing Indo-Japan security cooperation and economic 
cooperation during his October 21-23 visit to Japan.  He will 
have an audience with the Emperor, and meet with Prime 
Minister Aso and Energy Minister Nikai.  PM Singh will be 
accompanied by a business delegation, which will hold a forum 
with Japanese counterparts on areas for two-way investment. 
Nuclear cooperation and an Economic Partnership Agreement are 
conspicuously absent from the draft Joint Statement.  End 
Summary. 
 
 The Summit 
------- 
 
¶2. (C) Japanese Embassy New Delhi Political Officer Yuji 
Suzuki briefed PolOffs that during Prime Minister Manmohan 
Singh,s October 21-23 visit to Tokyo, Singh will meet the 
Emperor and Empress, Prime Minister Taro Aso, and Energy 
Minister Toshihiro Nikai.  Singh will also bring with him a 
delegation of Indian business leaders who will meet with 
Japanese counterparts to discuss bilateral investment 
opportunities, with a goal of preparing proposals to present 
to the prime ministers.  The summit will release two joint 
statements signed by the leaders: one on a bilateral 
cooperation framework and another on security cooperation, 
according to Suzuki.  Business leaders will sign a 
non-binding economic cooperation document. 
 
The Security Cooperation Framework 
-------- 
¶3. (U)  The Joint Statement on Security Cooperation Framework 
will consist of three parts:  elements of existing 
cooperation, mechanisms of cooperation, and -- importantly, 
according to Suzuki -- an implementation plan.  Elements of 
existing cooperation will cite the continuing dialogue of 
Foreign Ministers and Foreign Secretaries and defense 
exchanges.  Under the mechanisms of cooperation, Suzuki noted 
disaster relief, combating terrorism and terrorist financing, 
maritime security, and the Proliferation Security Initiative 
(PSI -- of which India has expressed interest in joining) as 
areas in which new mechanisms of cooperation might be set up. 
 He told PolOffs that the action plan for implementation is a 
work in progress, to be completed before the expected visit 
of the Japanese Prime Minister to India early in 2009.  It 
will focus on institutionalizing mechanisms in the framework. 
 He also noted that Japan sees this security framework pact 
as a complement to its regional strategy, specifically 
mentioning similarities between this agreement and the one 
Japan has with Australia.  On an interesting side note, 
during a Track II U.S.-India-Japan conference taking place in 
Delhi October 18, several of Japan's private industry 
participants noted the possibility of Japan in the near 
future revising Article 9 of the constitution, as well as its 
three export principles.  These businessmen called for 
defense cooperation to be a vehicle for broader bilateral 
economic growth. 
 
Contents (and Not) of the Joint Statement on Cooperation 
-------- 
¶4. (C)  The Joint Statement on Cooperation will focus on 
economic cooperation, according to Suzuki, while touching on 
many other issues.  The Dedicated Freight Corridor agreement 
will be featured, as Japan will announce a $4.5 billion 
investment for it, but a final project proposal will remain 
pending as Japan feels it needs a concrete commitment from 
the Indians on many of the technical requirements that are 
required to determine the exact cost.  Japan will announce 
its assistance for the establishment of a new Indian 
Institute of Technology (IIT) in Hyderabad, with Tokyo 
offering technological expertise and faculty exchanges.  The 
Joint Statement will also call for closer cooperation between 
India and Japan in several multilateral fora and on 
transnational issues, such as addressing the global financial 
 
NEW DELHI 00002744  002 OF 002 
 
 
crisis, working to advance the Doha Round, cooperating on 
counter-terrorism, strengthening the East Asia Community, and 
promoting UN reform, including permanent seats on the UN 
Security Council for Japan and India as called for by the 
Group of Four (G4).  While climate change will be one 
paragraph in the statement, it is noteworthy that such a 
diminutive mention is in stark contrast to the multi-page, 
separate statement made during PM Shinzo Abe's visit to New 
Delhi in August of 2007. 
 
¶5. (C) Japanese Ambassador Hideki Domichi told PolOff that 
this joint statement can be looked at also for what is not in 
it, specifically the lack of an agreement on an Economic 
Partnership Agreement (EPA) and no mention of civilian 
nuclear cooperation.  Despite Tokyo's efforts to resolve what 
Domichi described as only minor remaining differences, India 
would not agree to the EPA, so the announcement during 
Singh's visit will merely note "substantial progress" toward 
concluding an EPA, as opposed to the "agreement in principal" 
Tokyo had been aiming for.  Suzuki admitted to PolOffs that 
one sticking point is Japan's reluctance to recognize Indian 
pharmaceutical approval procedures.  Also missing from the 
statement will be substantive mention of nuclear cooperation. 
 Suzuki related that India would like to include a section on 
nuclear cooperation, but Japan,s domestic sensitivities make 
it difficult to accept.  Pressed on whether Japanese 
companies like Mitsubishi are interested in building nuclear 
plants in India, Suzuki said the Japanese people's 
sensitivities to nuclear issues will necessitate it remains 
on the sidelines as other countries, such as the U.S. and 
France, take the lead on opening the Indian market. 
 
Comment: Friendship Checkup on the Way to ASEM 
------ 
 
¶6. (C) Comment.  PM Singh's visit is a stop which was planned 
prior to Taro Aso becoming prime minister, on Singh's way to 
Beijing for the October 24-25 Asia-Europe Meeting.  As such, 
Indian analysts, such as C. Raja Mohan in his comments to 
PolOff, believe Delhi had few expectations of major 
deliverables or policy initiatives, and Suzuki's preview of 
the joint statements confirmed this visit will primarily be 
an affirmation of the growing, warm relations between the two 
countries.  Indians are curious as to how long Aso's 
government will remain intact, and with India facing its own 
general elections within the next seven months, we are 
unlikely to see any major initiatives before Summer 2009. 
Still, this visit could portend a giant leap forward soon, 
particularly if new administrations in Tokyo and Delhi are 
willing/able to capitalize on the security cooperation goals 
being put forward during this visit.  Should the security 
framework being laid out on this visit materialize as hoped, 
Japan and India could, down the road, be seen in operations 
together ranging from providing maritime security in the 
Straits of Malacca and Hormuz to supporting Japanese ships 
involved in Operation Enduring Freedom to Japan providing 
much-desired advanced technology in defense equipment.  The 
economic cooperation markers being laid during this visit, 
too, while perhaps not immensely significant themselves, 
should pave the way for the eventual EPA and much greater 
economic cooperation down the road.  Generally speaking, 
greater Japan-India relations support U.S. interests in the 
region, so while this visit won't offer much in concrete 
terms, it is more good news for the ties between our two 
large Asian strategic partners. 
WHITE