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MIME-Version: 1.0 Received: by 10.25.207.149 with HTTP; Sat, 30 May 2015 06:27:10 -0700 (PDT) In-Reply-To: <72C5FEE740C9034E815045E6800518AB4F9786B1@FFCULEXCH01> References: <A28EFCCF-2C91-438B-B8CC-AF799A4DD582@fordfoundation.org> <72C5FEE740C9034E815045E6800518AB4F9786B1@FFCULEXCH01> Date: Sat, 30 May 2015 09:27:10 -0400 Delivered-To: john.podesta@gmail.com Message-ID: <CAE6FiQ-mMMn1k+7C+4VO8w7jR=-uKX=f=_buCt3+PFrCBkwuLg@mail.gmail.com> Subject: Re: FW: Excellent meeting with the U.S. Ambassador From: John Podesta <john.podesta@gmail.com> To: "Walker, Darren" <D.Walker@fordfoundation.org> Content-Type: multipart/alternative; boundary=001a11c3fe00c6939005174c8ce2 --001a11c3fe00c6939005174c8ce2 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8 Talked to India. You around for a call? On Wednesday, May 27, 2015, Walker, Darren <D.Walker@fordfoundation.org> wrote: > John--this note is from Xav Briggs, Ford VP who is in Delhi and met with > Ambassador Verma yesterday. Thanks, Darren > > -----Original Message----- > From: Briggs, Xavier > Sent: Wednesday, May 27, 2015 3:29 AM > To: Walker, Darren; Ironside, Alfred; Monteiro, Ken; Jarvis, Kristen > Cc: Sunder, Tuhina; Ramdas, Kavita > Subject: Excellent meeting with the U.S. Ambassador > > Excellent because of what I think I got them to understand, not b/c they > gave me new info. > > Ambassador Verma made nearly a full 30 min for the mtg, which I > appreciated since we didn't give him a lot of notice. And his senior team > was in the room. > > Since what matters is not what I said but what they thought they heard, > I'll focus on their replies -- many of which came with Verma asking 'have > we heard you right' -- which I found encouraging: > > -- The Ford Foundation takes the long view and sees adapting to 'shifting > space' as an important part of remaining effective and relevant in a wide > variety of settings across the globe. > > -- We feel we're in an increasingly good place with the government, with > greater clarity on what shaped the past few months and also what the > elements of a resolution and new normal might be. We have been told by > senior officials that the government wants us to continue to operate in > India. Yesterday's positive news story is consistent with this, with the > start of a turn, however modest. > > -- We do have some immediate operational imperatives and the Indian > government, specifically Home Affairs, could help us resolve them, > especially with Citibank, even if it wants to keep us on a watch list for a > while. That conversation is in progress. Enforcement authorities can issue > all sorts of 'clarification' that create openings without changing the > 'watch' status altogether. I used IRS and FBI analogies to explain it to > them. Heads nodded. Verma had been thinking in more absolute terms (can you > function while on the watch list, yes or no?). > > -- We see our situation as part of a larger set of moves by the Government > of India to treat civil society differently, to be sure. But we're not > headed to the barricades. The Ford situation is special, in part because we > were ensnared as part of a larger criminal investigation. We see scrutiny > and compliance as legitimate and important everywhere we work. We look fwd > to working things out constructively. I briefly explained our long-standing > exceptional status vs the recent steps Gates took to register in India -- > merely as an example. And Modi is no fan of Nehru. Invoking that personal > invite long ago is not our best card to play. Acting privileged is not our > approach to this. > > -- What would be helpful now is to make sure the USG 'does no harm' (his > words). In general, we should all look to build on the evolving, positive > relationship between Obama and Modi and see that this gets worked out in a > constructive way. That's in the interest of both countries, not just the > foundation. > > I'll write separately about yesterday's encouraging news story about Home > Affairs 'allaying' our concerns. > > Darren, you might want to fwd this to JP, who really values real-time > updates, as Sonal underscored. > > Xav > > (Excuse typos, sent from my mobile) > --001a11c3fe00c6939005174c8ce2 Content-Type: text/html; charset=UTF-8 Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Talked to India. You around for a call?<br><br>On Wednesday, May 27, 2015, = Walker, Darren <<a href=3D"mailto:D.Walker@fordfoundation.org">D.Walker@= fordfoundation.org</a>> wrote:<br><blockquote class=3D"gmail_quote" styl= e=3D"margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex">John--t= his note is from Xav Briggs, Ford VP who is in Delhi and met with Ambassado= r Verma yesterday.=C2=A0 Thanks, Darren<br> <br> -----Original Message-----<br> From: Briggs, Xavier<br> Sent: Wednesday, May 27, 2015 3:29 AM<br> To: Walker, Darren; Ironside, Alfred; Monteiro, Ken; Jarvis, Kristen<br> Cc: Sunder, Tuhina; Ramdas, Kavita<br> Subject: Excellent meeting with the U.S. Ambassador<br> <br> Excellent because of what I think I got them to understand, not b/c they ga= ve me new info.<br> <br> Ambassador Verma made nearly a full 30 min for the mtg, which I appreciated= since we didn't give him a lot of notice. And his senior team was in t= he room.<br> <br> Since what matters is not what I said but what they thought they heard, I&#= 39;ll focus on their replies -- many of which came with Verma asking 'h= ave we heard you right' -- which I found encouraging:<br> <br> -- The Ford Foundation takes the long view and sees adapting to 'shifti= ng space' as an important part of remaining effective and relevant in a= wide variety of settings across the globe.<br> <br> -- We feel we're in an increasingly good place with the government, wit= h greater clarity on what shaped the past few months and also what the elem= ents of a resolution and new normal might be. We have been told by senior o= fficials that the government wants us to continue to operate in India. Yest= erday's positive news story is consistent with this, with the start of = a turn, however modest.<br> <br> -- We do have some immediate operational imperatives and the Indian governm= ent, specifically Home Affairs, could help us resolve them, especially with= Citibank, even if it wants to keep us on a watch list for a while. That co= nversation is in progress. Enforcement authorities can issue all sorts of &= #39;clarification' that create openings without changing the 'watch= ' status altogether. I used IRS and FBI analogies to explain it to them= . Heads nodded. Verma had been thinking in more absolute terms (can you fun= ction while on the watch list, yes or no?).<br> <br> -- We see our situation as part of a larger set of moves by the Government = of India to treat civil society differently, to be sure. But we're not = headed to the barricades. The Ford situation is special, in part because we= were ensnared as part of a larger criminal investigation. We see scrutiny = and compliance as legitimate and important everywhere we work. We look fwd = to working things out constructively. I briefly explained our long-standing= exceptional status vs the recent steps Gates took to register in India -- = merely as an example. And Modi is no fan of Nehru. Invoking that personal i= nvite long ago is not our best card to play. Acting privileged is not our a= pproach to this.<br> <br> -- What would be helpful now is to make sure the USG 'does no harm'= (his words). In general, we should all look to build on the evolving, posi= tive relationship between Obama and Modi and see that this gets worked out = in a constructive way. That's in the interest of both countries, not ju= st the foundation.<br> <br> I'll write separately about yesterday's encouraging news story abou= t Home Affairs 'allaying' our concerns.<br> <br> Darren, you might want to fwd this to JP, who really values real-time updat= es, as Sonal underscored.<br> <br> Xav<br> <br> (Excuse typos, sent from my mobile)<br> </blockquote> --001a11c3fe00c6939005174c8ce2--