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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 NEW DELHI 001138 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL PGOV IN
SUBJECT: SCENESETTER FOR INDIA VISIT OF UNDER SECRETARY 
BURNS 
 
¶1.  (SBU)  Under Secretary Burns: 
 
In many respects, your visit represents the moment so many of 
us who manage the India account have waited years  for:   a 
time when U.S. officials can engage with a new, strong Indian 
government freed from the constraints of anti-American 
coalition partners or a precarious political position with a 
commitment to elevate the relationship.  This is truly an 
opportune moment in our bilateral history with this Asian 
giant/strategic partner, and, following a pause in our 
relations while our two large democracies went through their 
own election processes, will mark the beginning of new era of 
engagement, ripe with potential.  Of course, the relationship 
is far from perfect, and today there remains a noticeable 
undercurrent of public opinion which is skeptical of 
America's intentions in India.  However, as the Obama 
administration's first senior official to meet in India with 
the new government, your visit has the chance to set the tone 
and begin to lay the necessary ground work to take our ties 
to the next level. 
 
----- Indian Elections: Congress Party Returns with Renewed 
Strength ----- 
 
¶2. (SBU)  The surprisingly strong performance by the Congress 
Party and its United Progressive Alliance allies in India's 
national election has returned Prime Minister Manmohan Singh 
to office and provided the Congress Party with a mandate to 
govern -- surely a welcome change for the Prime Minister 
after years of battling communists and regional coalition 
"partners" over both domestic and foreign policy issues. 
This has allowed the Prime Minister to assemble what some in 
the media have referred to as "Manmohan's dream team" in his 
cabinet, including the addition of the new External Affairs 
Minister, S.M. Krishna.  Krishna is the first Indian foreign 
minister to have received a degree from a U.S. university 
(Southern 
Methodist University, along with a Fulbright term at George 
Washington University), and in his first press interaction he 
promised to consolidate India's partnership with the U.S., 
along with other major powers like Russia, China, Japan and 
the EU.  With the UPA's victory, and the return to the 
cabinet of key players such as MK Narayanan as National 
Security Advisor, Pranab Mukherjee as Finance Minister, P. 
Chidambaram as Home Minister, and AK Anthony as Defense 
Minister, we anticipate stability in our bilateral 
relationship and a continuation of the positive trend that 
has marked our ties for the past decade. 
 
----- Indian Mood: Unstable Region, Global Power Growing 
Pains Detract from Election Honeymoon ----- 
 
¶3. (SBU) While the elections seemed to convince most pundits 
that the GOI was set to move quickly and boldly on its 
foreign policy agenda, serious challenges which pre-dated the 
election remain as a sobering reminder of how far India has 
to go to reach its stated goal of becoming a global player. 
One thing that seems to never change is India's perception 
that Pakistan is an existential threat, and the Indians are 
following very closely how Islamabad prosecutes perpetrators 
of the Mumbai attacks and acts (or doesn't act) against 
Lashkar-e-Taiba.  A silver lining to the Mumbai terror was 
the subsequent unprecedented law 
enforcement cooperation between the U.S. and India on the 
investigation; however, senior Indian officials have warned 
us not to trust Pakistan's intentions in pursuing the Mumbai 
terror networks.  Pakistan,s release of JuD Chief Hafiz 
Saeed has added to the suspicion.   India has responded to 
every Pakistani request for further evidence, fully cognizant 
of how it is in India's interest not to appear to balk at 
such requests, but Foreign Minister Krishna made it clear in 
his first days in office that India's policy remains that it 
will not return to a formal Composite Dialogue with Pakistan 
until Mumbai terrorists are prosecuted. 
 
¶4. (SBU) Despite early concerns, the GOI now  appreciates 
Special Representative Holbrooke's active outreach to India 
on Afghanistan-Pakistan policy, and has made general 
statements agreeing to do more 
 
NEW DELHI 00001138  002 OF 003 
 
 
for Afghan reconstruction.  However, despite reassurances 
from Holbrooke and the Embassy to GOI officials, 
hypersensitivity remains in the Indian public over the 
question of whether the U.S. intends to  interfere in Kashmir 
and/or sacrifice Indian security interests to U.S. objectives 
in Afghanistan.  Elsewhere in the region we and India 
generally share the same goals for stability and freedom in 
places such as Nepal, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, and  have 
coordinated better than in the past.  Burma and Iran remain 
exceptions;  India's proximity, historical ties and economic 
interests leave it with a policy perspective that more often 
than not diverges from ours.  On the global stage, we have 
heard Indian strategic thinkers describe their goal is for 
India to become "a regional power and global player."  The 
ambition at the top levels of government is readily apparent, 
as India seeks permanent UNSC membership, proudly takes a 
seat at the G-20 table, modernizes its military, and begins 
to take on greater security responsibilities such as 
anti-piracy operations off Somalia. 
 
¶5.  (SBU) Still, the weight of domestic poverty coupled with, 
as one senior GOI official recently admitted to us, a dearth 
of capacity in the bureaucracy, has meant that capability has 
not been able to keep up with ambition, and by all 
appearances won't for the next several years.  (Note:  While 
India,s poverty levels have fallen in the past decade along 
with a rapidly growing economy, hundreds of millions of 
Indians continue to subsist on less than two U.S. dollars a 
day.  End Note.)  The good news for U.S. interests is that 
the same senior officials who have a vision for India's 
ascendancy generally recognize that healthy relations with 
America are essential for India to get to where it wants to 
be.  The Congress party attributes a large deal of its 
electoral success to the close attention it paid to the rural 
sector of the economy.  Over the past year, the UPA has 
implemented a number of costly subsidy, debt waiver and rural 
income support programs that, along with good monsoons, have 
led to relatively strong rural and agricultural growth. 
Despite the anticipation of some  big bang, economic 
reforms, the more likely approach by the new government is 
gradual reform with a close eye at each step on the political 
and social effects of policy changes.  The watchword, 
emphasized by Finance Minister Mukherjee, will be rapid, 
 inclusive growth, with spending and investment on 
infrastructure and an expanding social safety net. 
 
----- Deliverables: Suddenly Some Old Fruit May Be Hanging 
Low Enough For Picking ----- 
 
¶6. (SBU) One main thrust of your visit will be to discuss the 
institutionalized dialogues that will 
form the pillars for our relationship in the coming years. 
We have heard that the Indians are undergoing a similar 
review, and will have ideas of their own for how they see the 
architecture of our relationship taking shape.  We are hoping 
for an early readout of the direction India is heading before 
your arrival.  In addition to that important conversation, 
there are other tangible issues ripe for resolving. 
 
¶7. (SBU) Following the election, Post received clear signals 
from contacts at the Ministry of External Affairs, the 
Ministry of Defense and through the media that India is ready 
to move forward on a few agreements which have been pending 
longer than anyone would have expected.  Acceptable End-Use 
Monitoring (EUM) language is at the top of that list, and 
Foreign Secretary Menon is eager to sit down one-on-one with 
you to determine a permanent formulation that meets India's 
political concerns and DoD's legal 
requirements, perhaps as a deliverable for Secretary 
Clinton's visit or even earlier if possible.  Working level 
contacts at MoD suggest that the Communications 
Interoperability and Security Memorandum of Agreement 
(CISMOA) is also within reach, pending a review by the 
Cabinet Committee on Security.  A third agreement, the 
Logistics Support Agreement, has also been brought up again 
by MoD contacts.  We recommend you push for approval of all 
three agreements (technically the EUM language is not a 
"formal" agreement, 
but due to domestic political sensitivities will require 
 
NEW DELHI 00001138  003 OF 003 
 
 
Cabinet approval) to be concluded as early as possible, 
reiterating our points that these will clear the way for even 
more robust defense cooperation, something Prime Minister 
Singh has mentioned as a growth area for the relationship. 
 
¶8. (SBU) We also hope your visit will be able to clear away 
obstacles to implementing the civil nuclear agreement.  The 
Indian Cabinet and Parliament need to approve liability 
legislation to protect U.S. and other foreign companies, but 
once that is enacted we are hoping to have an announcement -- 
again, at or before the time of Secretary Clinton's visit -- 
of the designation of two nuclear park sites for U.S. 
companies. 
 
¶9. (SBU) We appear to have reached agreement on the way 
forward for implementing a Technology Safeguards Agreement 
that would also  launch what we hope are expedited 
negotiations on a Commercial Space Launch Agreement as well 
as discussions on our satellite services markets.  However, 
we are still awaiting a 
response to our latest suggested language for our  diplomatic 
notes that, if approved in time, would allow you and 
Secretary Menon to jointly sign.  Should signing the 
agreements not be possible by the time or your visit, Post 
recommends you push to have this concluded in time to be 
included in the Secretary's visit. 
 
----- Your Visit Coincides Nicely with Counter-Terrorism 
Efforts ----- 
 
¶10. (SBU) Your visit immediately proceeds the annual 
bilateral Counterterrorism Joint Working Group (CTJWG) 
meeting, which will be held this year in Washington on June 
¶16.  We do not expect the talks, which are led by MEA, to 
result in any front page news, but there is considerable 
interest among U.S. agencies in increased cooperation in law 
enforcement training and financial counterterrorism.  We will 
also encourage India to play a constructive role in 
sub-regional cooperation efforts, particularly on border 
issues with Nepal and Bangladesh. 
 
----- Your Meetings ----- 
 
¶11. (SBU) All signs are that the new government is eager to 
receive you and get the ball rolling on the next phase of the 
U.S.-India relationship.  The Americas Division at MEA has 
told us that most if not all of the senior officials we have 
requested will be available to meet with you: Prime Minister 
Singh, External Affairs Minister Krishna, Home Affairs 
Minister P. Chidambaram, National Security Advisor 
Narayanan, Deputy Planning Commissioner Montek Singh 
Ahluwalia, Foreign Secretary Shiv Shankar Menon, Special 
Envoy Shyam Saran, and Leader of the Opposition L.K. Advani. 
Your program in Mumbai will focus on outreach to young people 
and the business community as well as civil society. 
BURLEIGH