VZCZCXRO4590
OO RUEHAST RUEHBI RUEHCI RUEHDBU RUEHLH RUEHNEH RUEHPW
DE RUEHNE #2207/01 3031235
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 301235Z OCT 09
FM AMEMBASSY NEW DELHI
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 8419
INFO RUCNCLS/ALL SOUTH AND CENTRAL ASIA COLLECTIVE
RHEHAAA/WHITE HOUSE WASHDC

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 NEW DELHI 002207 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
G: DAVID YOUNG AND JEANNETTE WINDON 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: EAGR EAID ECON IN KDEM KGHG KWMN PREL SENV
KTIP 
SUBJECT: SCENESETTER FOR U/S OTERO'S VISIT TO INDIA 
 
¶1. (SBU) Under Secretary Otero: 
 
Mission India warmly welcomes you to New Delhi to relaunch 
the Global Issues Forum (GIF) in the run-up to Prime Minister 
Singh's November 22-26 state visit to Washington.  The 
Embassy has worked hard to make progress across all five 
pillars and 18 sub-dialogues of the U.S.-India Strategic 
Dialogue, since the Secretary's July visit.  The Global 
Issues Forum dialogue provides an excellent mechanism to set 
the course for our two nations to partner to overcome today's 
global challenges in the region and beyond.  The GIF will be 
a three-hour long discussion on economic and social 
development, environment and natural resources, water 
management and food security, and necessary follow-on action. 
 This message seeks to highlight the Strategic Dialogues and 
PM Singh visit deliverables involving global issues, flags 
other issues you may wish to raise, and outlines the 
activities of relevant ministries. 
 
Energy and Climate Change 
------ 
 
¶2. (SBU) We envisage the signature deliverable of PM Singh's 
November state visit will be the Clean Energy Technology 
Partnership, which supports Indian efforts to become a model 
of sustainable growth for the 21st century.  The Clean Energy 
Technology Partnership would focus on clean energy and 
technological innovation.  The USG is exploring the 
possibility of establishing a USD 100 million Green Fund to 
provide loan guarantees and use other creative financing 
mechanisms for new technology and innovative projects.  We 
are exploring potential funding sources for the USG 
contribution of USD 25 million to the fund. 
 
Education and Development:  Obama-Singh 21st Century 
Knowledge Initiative 
------ 
 
¶3. (SBU) The GOI has already agreed to increase its 
contribution to the Fulbright-Nehru program by USD 1 million 
to match an increase in U.S. funding.  We welcome OES 
agreement to award USD 5 million from the PL480 rupee funds 
to the Obama-Singh 21st Century Knowledge Initiative.  The 
GOI is also seeking matching funds for this program, which 
will increase university linkages and junior faculty 
development exchanges between U.S. and Indian universities, 
with a focus on science and technology.  In addition to 
higher education, we have discussed collaboration on basic 
education, focusing on a conference promoting teaching among 
young Indians.  The GOI is committed to education reform, 
including legislation permitting the entry of foreign 
educational providers into the Indian market. 
 
Science, Technology, Health and Innovation:  Global Disease 
Detection (GDD) Program 
------ 
 
¶4. (SBU) The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is 
reviewing the draft GDD agreement, which would help India 
respond to international health regulations and develop its 
global capacity for disease detection.  The GOI is also 
working on clearing the draft GDD agreement through its 
Health Ministry, and hopes it will be ready for signature 
when PM Singh visits Washington. 
 
Women's Empowerment Dialogue 
------- 
 
¶5. (SBU) The Women's Empowerment Dialogue (WED) provides 
opportunities to share best practices and partner on relevant 
initiatives.  Female feticide, trafficking for commercial sex 
work, domestic violence, and dowry deaths continue to affect 
countless India women.  The new government has made several 
promises regarding women's political empowerment including 
raising "reservations" for women in village councils 
(panchayats) and municipalities and is planning to introduce 
legislation mandating a 50 percent "reservation" for women in 
Parliament.  Ambassador-at-Large for Global Women's Issues 
Melanne Verveer is visiting India next week to begin 
discussions with the GOI on the WED. 
 
Food Security & Agriculture Dialogue 
------ 
 
¶6. (SBU) The Agriculture Dialogue seeks to increase bilateral 
cooperation to maximize opportunities for food security, 
rural poverty alleviation, and farmer income generation.  The 
GOI views food security as primarily a domestic challenge of 
 
NEW DELHI 00002207  002 OF 003 
 
 
self-sufficiency in basic commodities.  High food prices have 
been a major issue in past elections and could become a 
political threat for the current UPA government. We are 
working to identify tangible outcomes on food security for 
the PM's visit. 
 
Trafficking in Persons 
---------- 
 
¶7. (SBU) India has been placed on the Tier 2 Watch List for 
six consecutive years, primarily because it has not been able 
to demonstrate sufficient progress in its anti-TIP law 
enforcement efforts.  If India is on the Tier 2 Watch List in 
the 2010 TIP Report, it will automatically be downgraded to 
Tier 3, which not only could result in sanctions against 
India but would have adverse effects on the entire 
relationship.  The GOI views our G/TIP Report as flawed and 
as not sufficiently appreciative of the government's anti-TIP 
efforts within the Indian context in which a top-down, 
centrally driven approach to a problem is not feasible in 
heterogeneous, federal, and democratic India.  We should 
explore ways to partner with India on the trafficking 
challenge.   The Global Issues Forum provides a mechanism in 
which we can work with the GOI to help India become a 
regional leader in anti-TIP efforts and efforts to protect 
migrant workers. 
 
Environmental Protection 
------ 
 
¶8. (SBU) Our growing partnership with India in environmental 
stewardship focuses on developing science-based best 
management practices for environmental governance and 
conservation such as introducing appropriate management tools 
for wildlife conservation, wildlife crime enforcement, 
management of hazardous materials including mercury, and 
Environmental Impact Assessment management.  India is home to 
the largest range for the Bengal tiger and also home to one 
of the few mass nesting sites of the Olive Ridley turtle. 
Although a member of the Coalition Against Wildlife 
Trafficking (CAWT) and the South Asian Wildlife Enforcement 
Network (SAWEN), India has not taken an active role.  We 
would like India to take a leadership role as the center of 
biodiversity in the region, and would like to participate in 
regional capacity building exercises designed to reduce 
cross-border wildlife trafficking under SAWEN. 
 
UN Human Rights Council 
------ 
 
¶9. (SBU) The GOI shares our concerns with the Defamation of 
Religions resolution in the UN Human Rights Council.  India 
also finds the resolution objectionable because it believes 
it singles out Islam and may equate race with religion. 
However, the GOI is likely to abstain rather than vote 
against such a resolution.  It is not yet clear whether India 
will introduce its Tolerance and Pluralism resolution this 
year.  India is likely to abstain from voting on Burma and 
DPRK Human Rights resolutions, and any decision regarding 
Iran will be formulated at the highest levels.  On the other 
hand, the GOI is supportive of the resolution on the 
Elimination of Discrimination Against Women and is interested 
in passing a resolution on the Rights of the Child. 
 
Domestic Politics 
----- 
 
¶10. (SBU) The strong performance by the Congress Party and 
its United Progressive Alliance (UPA) allies in India's 
springtime national elections has provided the Congress Party 
with a mandate to govern, after years of battling leftist and 
regional coalition "partners" over issues including a closer 
relationship with the United States and economic 
liberalization.  Congress Party leaders attribute its strong 
showing in the elections to the close attention it paid to 
the rural sector during the previous government. 
Accordingly, the UPA's budget focuses most new spending on a 
rural employment program and rural infrastructure.  India's 
only other national party, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), 
has been plagued by internal bickering since its stunning 
defeat in the national elections. 
 
Aspirations but Roadblocks 
------ 
 
¶11. (SBU) India is a regional power that aspires to become a 
global player.  Although the Congress Party's victory set the 
stage for bolder moves on its foreign policy agenda, 
 
NEW DELHI 00002207  003 OF 003 
 
 
significant challenges remain.  India's sluggish bureaucracy 
is stove piped and suffers from a lack of capacity and 
flexibility in every sector.  Many senior officials who 
entered government service during the Cold War era still 
cling to "non-aligned" shibboleths of the 1960s and 1970s. 
Furthermore, India's Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) sees 
itself as the primary interlocutor with foreigners and often 
hinders other ministries from directly engaging with their 
foreign counterparts.  The extreme level of domestic poverty 
also stands in stark contrast to India's global ambitions. 
While India's poverty levels have fallen in the past decade 
as the economy has grown, hundreds of millions of Indians 
continue to subsist on less than USD 2 dollars a day.  India 
is home to the third-largest number of people living with 
HIV/AIDS and one-fourth of the world's tuberculosis cases. 
It is one of four nations in which polio still exists. 
 
Meet the Ministries 
------ 
 
¶12. (SBU) Established in 2006, the Ministry of Women and 
Child Development (MWCD) formulates policies and coordinates 
the efforts of the GOI and NGOs working in the field of women 
and children development.  Although the MWCD serves as the 
GOI's coordinator for anti-trafficking policies and programs, 
its ability to enhance interagency coordination across the 
bureaucracy remains weak since several other 
ministries--i.e., the Home Affairs Ministry and the Law 
Ministry-- possess more power.  The Ministry of Home Affairs 
(MHA) is responsible for state-center relations, border 
management, and internal security.  Protecting India from 
terrorist attacks has increasingly taken more of the 
ministry's time.  Although law enforcement is a state 
responsibility, MHA has can give states guidance on 
law-and-order issues.  The Ministry of Environment and 
Forests focuses on the conservation of India's natural 
resources.  It also serves as India's nodal agency for 
climate change and its activist head, Minister Jairam Ramesh, 
has influenced India's negotiating position in the run-up to 
the Copenhagen climate talks. 
 
India's Development Assistance Abroad 
------- 
 
¶13. (SBU) India has pledged USD 1.3 billion in assistance 
over ten years to Afghanistan in infrastructure projects, 
humanitarian assistance, education/capacity development, and 
small/community based development projects (funding 100 small 
projects).  India is the largest contributor of foreign 
assistance to Nepal.  The GOI has pledged USD 137.5 million 
to fund a road development project in Nepal.  India also 
plans to fund a police academy, integrated checkpoints along 
the India-Nepal border, and an upgraded rail link with Nepal. 
 India's foreign assistance to Sri Lanka funds development 
projects for education, health, and infrastructure.  In the 
wake of the LTTE's defeat, the GOI has funded demining 
efforts, donated food aid, and provided over USD 100 million 
to rehabilitate war victims in Sri Lanka's northern and 
eastern areas. 
 
Your Meetings and Events 
----- 
 
¶14. (SBU) The GOI is looking forward to the GIF.  MEA has 
told us that most, if not all, of the senior officials we 
have requested will be available to meet with you: 
Environment and Forests Minister Ramesh, Women and Child 
Development Minister Tirath, Foreign Secretary Rao, Home 
Affairs Secretary Pillai, and Environment and Forests 
Secretary Sharma. 
ROEMER