VZCZCXRO1145
OO RUEHAST RUEHBI RUEHCI RUEHDBU RUEHLH RUEHNEH RUEHPW
DE RUEHNE #1488/01 2010150
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 200150Z JUL 09
FM AMEMBASSY NEW DELHI
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 7432
INFO RUCNCLS/ALL SOUTH AND CENTRAL ASIA COLLECTIVE
RUEHBJ/AMEMBASSY BEIJING 7849
RUEHMO/AMEMBASSY MOSCOW 3584
RUEHLO/AMEMBASSY LONDON 6638
RUEHFR/AMEMBASSY PARIS 1836
RUEHRL/AMEMBASSY BERLIN 1421
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHDC
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC
RUEIDN/DNI WASHINGTON DC
RHHMUNA/HQ USPACOM HONOLULU HI
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK 8310
RUEHGV/USMISSION GENEVA 8484
RUEKJCS/JOINT STAFF WASHDC
RUMICEA/USCENTCOM INTEL CEN MACDILL AFB FL

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 NEW DELHI 001488 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PTER PREL PINR KDEM IN
SUBJECT: NIRUPAMA RAO: A POISED NEW FOREIGN SECRETARY 
 
¶1.   (U) SUMMARY:  Indian President Patil appointed Nirupama 
Rao as India,s second female Foreign Secretary.  She will 
take office at the end of the month.  A trusted East Asia 
hand, Rao is a veteran diplomat, known for her poised 
demeanor; she most recently served as Indian Ambassador to 
China.  Rao will be India,s principal foreign policy 
official and actively engaged on high-profile issues, from 
the implementation of the U.S.-India Civil Nuclear Initiative 
to India,s bid for a permanent UN Security Council (UNSC) 
seat. 
 
The Selection of the Foreign Secretary 
---- 
¶2.  (U) The Foreign Secretary, as the bureaucratic head of 
the Indian Foreign Service (IFS) and the Ministry of External 
Affairs (MEA), acts as India,s principal foreign policy 
official.  The selection of an Indian Ambassador to China (a 
sensitive post for New Delhi) as Foreign Secretary has now 
become a trend; her immediate predecessor, Shiv Shankar 
Menon, and three other predecessors also served as New 
Delhi,s representative in Beijing. President Pratibha 
Patil,s announcement of her appointment as Foreign Secretary 
came as no surprise to Embassy sources.  Rao will serve as 
Foreign Secretary only until December 2010, at which point 
she faces mandatory retirement, per Indian law, at the age of 
¶60. 
 
Rao,s  Likely Focus 
---- 
¶3. (U) India,s number one foreign policy priority -- its bid 
for a permanent seat on the Security Council -- will be an 
immediate focus.  With Prime Minister Singh,s renewed calls 
for changes to an "anachronistic" global architecture during 
the June 2009 G-8 plus 5 talks in Italy, Rao will continue to 
articulate India,s quest for a UNSC seat in the run up to 
the U.N. General Assembly meetings in September.  Indian 
media analysts hope that Rao,s previous experience working 
with the Chinese government might assist India in obtaining 
China,s support for an Indian seat. 
 
¶4. (U) Although the Indian media suggests that Nirupama Rao 
will play an important role in Indo-Pakistani relations, 
historically this sensitive bilateral relationship has been 
conducted from the Prime Minister,s Office and Cabinet. 
Known as a tough negotiator, Rao will play a key role in the 
implementation of the U.S.-India Civil Nuclear Initiative. 
 
A History of High-Profile Assignments 
---- 
¶5.  (U) Serving in several high-profile IFS positions from 
1993 to the present day, Nirupama Rao has weathered changes 
in India,s government politics and foreign policy.  In 2006, 
Rao was appointed Indian Ambassador,s to China and deftly 
soothed the PRC,s anger after Tibetan protesters scaled the 
walls of the Chinese Embassy in Delhi during the run-up to 
the 2008 Olympics.  Analysts contend that a certain level of 
trust between the Chinese and Indian governments was cemented 
during her tenure, as evidenced by the Chinese government 
allowing Rao to inaugurate an agricultural training center in 
the province of Ningxia - this is the first example of the 
Indian government funding a poverty alleviation project in 
China.  Also during her tenure, bilateral trade between India 
and China doubled, briefly surpassing trade between India and 
the US, historically India,s largest trading partner. 
Nirupama Rao facilitated 
the opening of an office in Beijing by the Indian Ministry of 
Tourism and Culture, tripling the number of people traveling 
between the two countries. 
 
¶6.  (U) Prior to serving as the first Indian female High 
Commissioner to Sri Lanka from 2004 to 2006, Rao cemented her 
reputation of unflappability as the first spokeswoman of the 
MEA from 2001 to 2004.  She was well-received as the public 
face of the IFS, with the media applauding her "very French" 
manner of using appropriate words to convey a careful, and 
eloquent tone.  Rao served as Deputy Chief of Mission in 
 
NEW DELHI 00001488  002 OF 002 
 
 
Russia from 1998 to 2001.  India,s May 1998 nuclear tests 
sparked a period of turbulent foreign relations, however 
Russia's ties to India remained strong; the Russian Foreign 
Minister was the first foreign official to visit India after 
the nuclear tests.  Rao also served as the Indian Embassy's 
Minister of Press in Washington D.C. from 1995 to 1998 and as 
the Indian Ambassador to Peru from 1993 to 1995.  Policy 
experts regard Rao as an East Asia hand, largely due to her 
tenure as MEA Joint Secretary of East Asia, as Director of 
the China desk from 1982 to 1984, and as Ambassador to China. 
 
The Poet Diplomat 
---- 
¶7.  (U) Rao was born on December 6, 1950, to a Hindu family 
in Aurangabad, Maharashtra.  She earned a Masters Degree in 
English Literature from Marathwada University and served as a 
Fellow at the Centre for International Affairs (predecessor 
of the Weatherhead Centre) at Harvard University from 1992 to 
¶1993.  Rao was also a Distinguished International Executive 
in Residence at the University of Maryland from 1999 to 2000. 
 The local media has given much coverage to the "poet 
diplomat" Rao, citing her 2004 anthology of poetry, Rain 
Rising.  Rao is married to Sudhakar Rao, a senior Indian 
Administrative Service officer, currently serving as Chief 
Secretary in Karnataka.  The couple has two sons, Nikhilesh 
(31) and Kartikeya (21). 
 
"No Glass Ceiling" 
---- 
¶8.  (U) Rao graduated from the same 1973 class of the IFS as 
Meira Kumar, the first female Speaker of the Lok Sabha (lower 
house of Parliament) (Ref).  Like Kumar, Rao is a pioneer for 
women in India, serving as the first female spokesperson of 
the MEA and the first female Indian Ambassador to China.  The 
IFS has responded to charges of past gender-based 
discrimination by advancing female officers to senior 
positions.  However, commenting to the media on her 
experience in the IFS, Rao responded emphatically: "I have 
never encountered any glass ceiling." 
ROEMER