8/7/2019 Shivshankar Menon Urges Cooperation on Sri Lanka

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17/3/11 6:55 AMThe Hindu : News / The India Cables : 203792: Shivshankar Menon urges cooperation on Sri Lanka

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News » The India Cables

203792: Shivshankar Menon urges cooperation on Sri Lanka

203792, 4/23/2009 14:57, 09NEWDELHI814, Embassy New Delhi, CONFIDENTIAL,, "VZCZCXRO7462OO RUEHBIRUEHCI RUEHDBU RUEHLH RUEHPWDE RUEHNE #0814 1131457ZNY CCCCC ZZHO 231457Z APR 09FMAMEMBASSY NEW DELHITO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 6325INFO RUCNCLS/ALL SOUTH ANDCENTRAL ASIA COLLECTIVERUEHTH/AMEMBASSY ATHENS 0001RUEHBK/AMEMBASSY BANGKOK 7271RUEHBJ/AMEMBASSY BEIJING 7602RUEHLO/AMEMBASSY LONDON 6277RUEHMO/AMEMBASSY MOSCOW 3350RUEHNY/AMEMBASSY OSLO 0360RUEHKO/AMEMBASSY TOKYO 6304RUEHON/AMCONSULTORONTO 0033RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK 7923RHEHAAA/WHITE HOUSEWASHDCRUEHGV/USMISSION GENEVA 8270RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDCRHEHNSC/NSC WASHDCRUEIDN/DNIWASHINGTON DCRHMFISS/HQ USCENTCOM MACDILL AFB FLRHHMUNA/HQ USPACOM HONOLULUHIRUEKJCS/JOINT STAFF WASHDC","C O N F I D E N T I A L NEW DELHI 000814SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/23/2018 TAGS: PREL, PGOV, PHUM, MOPS, PREF, ASEC, CE, IN SUBJECT: INDIANFOREIGN SECRETARY URGES COOPERATION ON SRI LANKA

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

1. (C) Charge met with Indian Foreign Secretary Shiv Shankar Menon April 23 for a discussion on the urgenthumanitarian situation in Sri Lanka and its ramifications for India. Menon began the conversation by noting thatExternal Affairs Minister Mukherjee had requested a telephone call to Secretary Clinton for later in the day.Mukherjee will express India's concerns over the situation in Sri Lanka and propose to the Secretary that the U.S. andIn dia coordinate on an international response which would force the GSL to take appropriate political steps to bringst ability to Sri Lanka and a return to normalcy in the Tamil regions. Menon said he hoped the outcome of thete lephone call would be that the leade rship on both sides would signal to the working level to coordinate and takeaction. Menon noted EAM Mukherjee's actions the night before, where he had called a cabinet meeting to discuss SriLanka, with the cabinet deciding to make a new appeal to the GSL to pause military operations and provide relief tocivilians trapped in the combat. Menon denied press rumors that Sri Lankan Presidential Advisor Basil Rajapaksawas visiting India, saying India had told Rajapaksa he would be welcomed but only if he had a significant new message.

2. (C) Describing the Sri Lankan government as being ""in its moment of victory,"" Menon said India did not feel asense of urgency by the GSL to start plans for reconstructing the north and allowing internally displaced persons(IDPs) to return to their lands or re-establish a ""normal"" existence. IDPs are currently being herded into camps,and Menon worried that without international presence on the ground, such as the United Nations and InternationalCommittee of the Red Cross (ICRC), the government would keep the IDPs effectively locked up. ""That's where theinternational community can help,"" Menon said, agreeing with the Charge that, if left unchecked, the GSL would beunlikely to rehabilitate the region.3. (C) Menon proposed that the U.S. and India work with the UN, EU, Japan and others interested in the situation inSri Lanka to address the humanitarian effort on an urgent basis and, further, that the U.S. and India coordinateclosely to press the GSL to move on a generous political engagement with northern Tamils. The internationalcommunity should now provide the Sri Lanka government with a set of benchmarks which would clearly set outexpectations for how to proceed with reconstruction and push the GSL to treat the Tamils humanely. Menon agreedwith the Charge that this especially was a time for the international community to be unified in the signal it sent toColombo, adding ""This is a huge point. Unless we do it now together, later we'll be catching up and trying to cleanup.""

4. (C) Menon shared that he had no current plan to travel to Colombo, but could do so if there was a realistic hopethat a visit could achieve tangible results. He noted that High Commissioner Prasad was in Delhi for two days, and

that Menon would recommend to Prasad to coordinate with the U.S. Embassy in Colombo on longer-term views forassisting in the post-conflict reconstruction.

BURLEIGH "

8/7/2019 Shivshankar Menon Urges Cooperation on Sri Lanka

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17/3/11 6:55 AMThe Hindu : News / The India Cables : 203792: Shivshankar Menon urges cooperation on Sri Lanka

Page 2 of 2http://www.thehindu.com/news/the-india-cables/article1546006.ece

Keywords: cable203792 , Peter Burleigh , The India cables , WikiLeaks , Eelam War IV , LTTE , ethnic conflict , Tamilcivilians

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