By Colombo Telegraph –

Foreign Secretary Menon

“Responding to the Ambassador’s query about whether the Sri Lankan government was being responsive to demands from the international community to provide access to internally displaced persons, Menon said the Lankans were doing just enough to keep the Indians satisfied for now. On-the-ground cooperation with Indian relief providers was good, but he was unable to make any judgment about what the mid- to long-term prospects were for treatment of IDPs or on political devolution.” the US Embassy New Delhi informed Washington.

A Leaked “CONFIDENTIAL” US diplomatic cable, dated June 2, 2009, recounts the details of a meeting US officials in New Delhi, India has had with newly appointed Indian External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna and Indian Foreign Secretary Menon. The Colombo Telegraph found the related leaked cable from the WikiLeaks database.

Under the subheading “Sri Lanka: Delegation Coming Next Week” US  CDA Peter Burleigh wrote “The Sri Lankan President’s Senior Advisor Basil Rajapaksa as well as Secretary of Defense Gothabaya Rajapaksa were now slated to come to New Delhi for talks next week, but a time for these discussions had not yet been nailed down. He underscored that the GOI was interested in hearing Sri Lankan plans both with regard to Tamil IDPs and regarding political negotiations. He hoped that the GSL was not aiming for quick elections in the north to establish an unrepresentative provincial government, as had been done in the Easter Province earlier. Menon speculated that after the visit, the GOI should have a better feel for GSL intentions.”

Read the cable below for further details;

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DE RUEHNE #1129/01 1531437
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
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FM AMEMBASSY NEW DELHI
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 6815
INFO RUCNCLS/ALL SOUTH AND CENTRAL ASIA COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUEHBJ/AMEMBASSY BEIJING PRIORITY 7722
RUEHRL/AMEMBASSY BERLIN PRIORITY 1372
RUEHLO/AMEMBASSY LONDON PRIORITY 6466
RUEHMO/AMEMBASSY MOSCOW PRIORITY 3462
RUEHFR/AMEMBASSY PARIS PRIORITY 1774
RHEBAAA/DEPT OF ENERGY WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY
RHHMUNA/HQ USPACOM HONOLULU HI PRIORITY
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHDC PRIORITY
RUEHGV/USMISSION GENEVA PRIORITY 8369
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC PRIORITY
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK PRIORITY 8116
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC PRIORITY
RUEKJCS/JOINT STAFF WASHDC PRIORITY
RUEIDN/DNI WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 NEW DELHI 001129 

SIPDIS 

E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/02/2019
TAGS: PREL PGOV PINR PHUM ENRG CE IN
SUBJECT: CHARGE MEETS NEW INDIAN FOREIGN MINISTER;
BILATERAL DISCUSSIONS WITH FOREIGN SECRETARY 

Classified By: CDA Peter Burleigh.  Reasons:  1.4(B, D). 

¶1.  (C)  Summary:  In a June 2 courtesy call by the Charge,
newly appointed External Affairs Minister Krishna said he
welcomed enhancement of the bilateral dialogue.  In a prior
meeting with Foreign Secretary Menon, the Charge flagged the
need to move forward on "legacy" issues in the run-up to next
week's visit by Under Secretary Burns.  Menon said he would
soon share information on India's review of various bilateral
dialogues and looked for progress on military-to-military
agreements and civil nuclear implementation.  The Charge
urged that visas be issued to a delegation from the
Commission on International Religious Freedom.  End Summary. 

Meet the New Foreign Minister
----------------------------- 

¶2.  (SBU)  In a twenty-minute courtesy call June 2 on new
Indian External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna, the Charge
underlined the importance of moving ahead in the bilateral
relationship, as reflected by the Secretary in her telephone
conversation with Krishna on May 29.  Krishna assured the
Charge that he welcomed the expanding scope of the
relationship.  While there had been a change in the Ministry,
there would be no change in the support of the UPA government
for strong ties to the United States, he said. 

¶3.  (C)  The Charge flagged the upcoming visit of Under
Secretary Burns as an opportunity to resolve lingering
bilateral issues while laying the groundwork for an enhanced
strategic dialogue with India.  Noting that Krishna had
himself been a Fulbright scholar in the U.S. in the sixties,
the Charge said that educational cooperation would be one of
the likely topics of bilateral talks.  Krishna said he looked
forward to reviewing proposals to bolster dialogue with India
and wanted a road map for forward progress.  He said India
would be happy to receive the Secretary this summer and said
he would like to visit the United States early on, but this
would not be likely before fall.  (Bio Note:  In an aside,
Krishna mentioned the warm feelings he had for the U.S. from
his studies at Southern Methodist University and George
Washington University.  He noted that he had met Senator
Fulbright and had been able to hear Martin Luther King preach
in Montgomery, Alabama during his stay in the United States.
End note). 

Menon:  Bilateral Architecture
------------------------------ 

¶4.  (C)  In a prior meeting on June 2 with Foreign Secretary
Menon, the Charge informed Menon that the U.S. was currently
reviewing the various bilateral dialogues with India to see
whether discussions could be enhanced and the structure of
talks made more useful.  Menon acknowledged the GOI was going
through a similar process and that the intent was to revise,
reduce and "evolve" the sets of dialogues to make the entire
structure more rational.  While this process had begun some
time ago, it could not be completed until a new government
was in office in India and the various stakeholders in the
Indian bureaucracy had been satisfied.  This was moving
forward and Menon hoped to be able to share the results when
Under Secretary Burns visited next week, if not before.
India viewed the dialogues as falling into two basic
categories -- political/military/security and economic.  New
Delhi was leaning towards having an overarching dialogue at
the Ministerial-level to track progress and encourage forward
movement. 

Menon:  Mil-Mil Relationship
---------------------------- 

¶5.  (C)  Menon acknowledged that India was reviewing its
position on End Use Monitoring.  He said that final approval
of the Logistics Support Agreement may come relatively soon,
but that an agreement on interoperability of equipment was
under review by the Ministry of Defense.  Menon said that the 

NEW DELHI 00001129  002 OF 002 

GOI aimed at completing agreements in these areas by or
before the time that the Secretary of State might visit.  He
understood the need to clean up "legacy" issues from the
prior administration to allow time for the Secretary to
launch a new dialogue with India. 

Civil Nuclear/Non-Pro:  Pending
------------------------------- 

¶6.  (C)  Menon said the GOI hoped to move forward with the
selection of sites for possible U.S.-built nuclear power
plants in time for Under Secretary Burns' visit.  He said a
response was pending to a U.S. demarche asking for assurances
from the India Department of Atomic Energy as part of the
U.S. Department of Energy Part 810 authorization/license
process; Menon thought India's answer would be positive. 

Sri Lanka:  Delegation Coming Next Week
--------------------------------------- 

¶7.  (C)  Responding to the Ambassador's query about whether
the Sri Lankan government was being responsive to demands
from the international community to provide access to
internally displaced persons, Menon said the Lankans were
doing just enough to keep the Indians satisfied for now.
On-the-ground cooperation with Indian relief providers was
good, but he was unable to make any judgment about what the
mid- to long-term prospects were for treatment of IDPs or on
political devolution.  The Sri Lankan President's Senior
Advisor Basil Rajapaksa as well as Secretary of Defense
Gothabaya Rajapaksa were now slated to come to New Delhi for
talks next week, but a time for these discussions had not yet
been nailed down.  He underscored that the GOI was interested
in hearing Sri Lankan plans both with regard to Tamil IDPs
and regarding political negotiations.  He hoped that the GSL
was not aiming for quick elections in the north to establish
an unrepresentative provincial government, as had been done
in the Easter Province earlier.  Menon speculated that after
the visit, the GOI should have a better feel for GSL
intentions. 

Commission on International Religious Freedom
--------------------------------------------- 

¶8.  (C)  The Charge reviewed the role of CIRF and noted that
we had encouraged the Committee members to visit India and
talk to the government and various affected communities
before issuing a report on religious freedom in India.
However, the delegation was having trouble getting visas for
their visit.  The Charge encouraged the GOI to issue visas
expeditiously to the CIRF delegation because a visit
presented India with an opportunity to let the members see
for themselves what the situation was on the ground and meet
stakeholders.  Menon was not encouraging about arranging
meetings with government officials, pointing out the
political and social sensitivity of anything touching on
religion in India and noting official concerns about the
appearance of a foreign government body evaluating Indian
behavior.  "That's a hard sell for the Ministry to make,"
Menon added, and while India acknowledged it had serious
social problems, as a strong and vibrant democracy, it was
committed to solving these issues itself.
BURLEIGH