49618 1/12/2006 14:49 06 NEWDELHI 265 Embassy New Delhi SECRET 06 NEWDELHI 264 | 06 NEWDELHI 265 | 06 STATE 5477 "VZCZCXRO9832OO RUEHBC RUEHDE RUEHKUK RUEHMOSDE RUEHNE #0265/01 0121449ZNY SSSSS ZZHO 121449Z JAN 06FM AMEMBASSY NEW DELHITO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 8519INFO RUCNIRA/IRAN COLLECTIVERUEHAD/AMEMBASSY ABU DHABI 1158RUEHBJ/AMEMBASSY BEIJING 9672RUEHRL/AMEMBASSY BERLIN 0454RUEHLM/AMEMBASSY COLOMBO 2778RUEHKA/AMEMBASSY DHAKA 2799RUEHIL/AMEMBASSY ISLAMABAD 5669RUEHBUL/AMEMBASSY KABUL 2247RUEHKT/AMEMBASSY KATHMANDU 3439RUEHLO/AMEMBASSY LONDON 7784RUEHMO/AMEMBASSY MOSCOW 6137RUEHFR/AMEMBASSY PARIS 0764RUEHKO/AMEMBASSY TOKYO 2577RUEHCI/AMCONSUL CALCUTTA 0845RUEHCG/AMCONSUL CHENNAI 0529RUEHDE/AMCONSUL DUBAI 0537RUEHIT/AMCONSUL ISTANBUL 0109RUEHBI/AMCONSUL MUMBAI 9777RUEHUNV/USMISSION UNVIE VIENNA 0444RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK 8493RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDCRUEIDN/DNI WASHINGTON DCRHHMUNA/CDR USPACOM HONOLULU HIRUEHGV/USMISSION GENEVA 0624RHHJJPI/PACOM IDHS HONOLULU HIRHMFISS/HQ USSOCOM MACDILL AFB FLRHMFISS/HQ USCENTCOM MACDILL AFB FLRUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHDCRUEKJCS/JOINT STAFF WASHDC" "S E C R E T SECTION 01 OF 02 NEW DELHI 000265
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E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/11/2016 TAGS: PREL, PGOV, KNNP, IN, IR SUBJECT: NSA SUGGESTS INDIA WILL VOTE AGAINST IRAN
REF: A. STATE 5477 B. NEW DELHI 264
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Classified By: Ambassador David C. Mulford for Reasons 1.4 (B, D)
1. (S) Summary: NSA MK Narayanan told the Ambassador on January 12 that India ""would like to"" vote for IAEA referral of Iran to the UN Security Council. New Delhi considers Iran in violation of its NPT obligations. However, he said, the GOI must still determine how to ""sell the vote"" domestically to its Muslim constituency. The Ambassador emphasized that abstaining would not be enough at this stage, highlighting the importance of India's September 24 IAEA vote. End Summary.
Iranian Provocation
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2. (S) The Ambassador, PolCouns, and Poloff met with NSA Narayanan and Venkatesh Verma, Director (Prime Minister's Office) to discuss Iran's breaking of IAEA seals and renewal of uranium enrichment activities. The Ambassador noted that Iran's actions would likely lead to an IAEA Board of Governors (BOG) vote on referral to the Security Council, a move that would be obligatory under the IAEA Statute. The U.S. and EU were confident that key members of the BOG would cooperate on the referral, and the USG hopes India will vote for such an action, the Ambassador stated. (NOTE: The Ambassador did NOT/NOT deliver Ref A points as prepared, as the EU-3 meeting had not occurred at the time of his encounter with NSA Narayanan. END NOTE)
Likely to Vote Against Iran
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3. (S) Narayanan was familiar with the state of play, reporting that he had just gotten off the phone with British NSA Nigel Sheinwald. He replied immediately to the Ambassador's opening that the GOI ""would like to"" vote for a resolution referring Iran to the UNSC, emphasizing that New Delhi is opposed to a nuclear-armed Iran. The question is ""how we deal with our domestic Muslim constituency,"" he continued. Muslims in India may not look at this in a rational manner of preventing another nuclear state in India's neighborhood, but could view an IAEA vote against Iran as an example of a Muslim country being ""ground under the heels"" of the West. Senator John Kerry had also raised India's position on a potential BOG vote with PM Manmohan Singh on January 11, Narayanan noted (Ref B). Echoing PM Singh's statement of India's uncompromising stand against proliferation, Narayanan concluded that Iran's case is ""an NPT violation.""
International Agreement will Help
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4. (S) The Ambassador noted that the US would likely seek an affirmative vote from India on referring Iran to the UNSC. Abstaining at this stage is not enough, he said, highlighting the importance of India's September 24 BOG vote and the fact that an abstention now would be seen as walking back the GOI's non-proliferation commitments. Referring to his call
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with Sheinwald, Narayanan quipped that the US and UK ""have Iran on the brain, while we have it on our back."" Narayanan had told his British counterpart that India would like to work with the UK on the language of the resolution, in order to find a way to sell India's vote domestically. If Russia and other key board members go along, it will be an easier task, he observed.
5. (U) Visit New Delhi's Classified Website:
(http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/sa/newdelhi/)
MULFORD
