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

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203792: Shivshankar Menon urges cooperation on Sri Lanka

203792, 4/23/2009 14:57, 09NEWDELHI814, Embassy New Delhi, CONFIDENTIAL,, "VZCZCXRO7462OO RUEHBI
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E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/23/2018 TAGS: PREL, PGOV, PHUM, MOPS, PREF, ASEC, CE, IN SUBJECT: INDIAN
FOREIGN 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 urgent
humanitarian situation in Sri Lanka and its ramifications for India. Menon began the conversation by noting that
External 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. and
India coordinate on an international response which would force the GSL to take appropriate political steps to bring
stability to Sri Lanka and a return to normalcy in the Tamil regions. Menon said he hoped the outcome of the
telephone call would be that the leadership on both sides would signal to the working level to coordinate and take
action. Menon noted EAM Mukherjee's actions the night before, where he had called a cabinet meeting to discuss Sri
Lanka, with the cabinet deciding to make a new appeal to the GSL to pause military operations and provide relief to
civilians trapped in the combat. Menon denied press rumors that Sri Lankan Presidential Advisor Basil Rajapaksa
was 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 a
sense 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 International
Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), the government would keep the IDPs effectively locked up. ""That's where the
international community can help,"" Menon said, agreeing with the Charge that, if left unchecked, the GSL would be
unlikely 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 in
Sri Lanka to address the humanitarian effort on an urgent basis and, further, that the U.S. and India coordinate
closely to press the GSL to move on a generous political engagement with northern Tamils. The international
community should now provide the Sri Lanka government with a set of benchmarks which would clearly set out
expectations for how to proceed with reconstruction and push the GSL to treat the Tamils humanely. Menon agreed
with the Charge that this especially was a time for the international community to be unified in the signal it sent to
Colombo, adding ""This is a huge point. Unless we do it now together, later we'll be catching up and trying to clean
up.""
4. (C) Menon shared that he had no current plan to travel to Colombo, but could do so if there was a realistic hope
that 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 for
assisting in the post-conflict reconstruction.
BURLEIGH "

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

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

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