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Cablegate: Af: Afghan-Pakistani Bilateral Trade and Security Talks

Published: Thu 8 Nov 2007 01:35 AM
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E.O. 12958 N/A
TAGS: ECON ETRD EFIN EPET EAID PGOV AF
SUBJECT: AF: Afghan-Pakistani Bilateral Trade and Security Talks
Sponsored by Canadians
Sensitive but Unclassified
1. (SBU) Summary and Comment: US Embassy Kabul representatives
attended the Afghanistan-Pakistan Cooperation Workshop, sponsored by
the Canadian Government in Dubai, October 30 - November 1. Senior
Afghan and Pakistani officials responsible for customs, immigration
and border security spent three days identifying mutual areas of
concerns and possible ways forward as well as building professional
links. Operational-level workshops on these issues will be held in
Kabul or Islamabad within the next four to six months to propose
strategies for improving the legal movement of goods and people
between the two countries, the maintenance of law and order, and
countering narcotics. Embassy Kabul will continue to monitor and
encourage this process. End Summary and Comment.
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Encouraging Open Discussion
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2. (SBU) US Embassy Kabul's Border Management Task Force (BMTF)
Customs Advisor attended the Afghanistan-Pakistan Cooperation
Workshop in Dubai, October 30 through November 1, 2007, sponsored by
the Canadian Government. The workshop aimed to further develop
professional links between the responsible Afghan and Pakistani
senior officials in a neutral setting, increase the level of mutual
understanding of each nation's institutional arrangements, and
identify and prioritize operational areas of mutual interest for
ongoing joint management, capacity building and or cooperation by
Afghanistan and Pakistan. These areas included customs controls,
immigration trends and practices, law enforcement challenges,
narcotics trafficking, terrorism threats, and economic issues in
frontier areas of Afghanistan and Pakistan.
3. (SBU) Chaired by Jim Nickel, the Director South Asia Division,
Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade - Canada, the
workshop was conducted in a spirit of cooperation among the
Pakistani and Afghan delegations. In addition to the Pakistani and
Afghan participants, two Canadian experts and an EmbOff participated
in the discussions with observers from Germany and Japan (the
outgoing and incoming Chair nations of the G8) and Canada also in
attendance. Each delegation made various presentations on
"cooperation" issues (as opposed to references to "border" issues
that were removed at the request of the Afghan government) with
subsequent clarifying discussions.
4. (SBU) Participants agreed to conduct a series of issue-specific,
operational-level workshops in either Kabul or Islamabad (to be
determined in the immediate future) as a first step. These are
intended to further study high-priority areas of:
-- Connecting government to the people through social and
economic development,
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-- Customs and Counter Narcotics, and
-- Managing the movement of people and Law Enforcement.
4. (SBU) Once concrete, cooperative operational-level initiatives
are identified by the two governments, it was agreed another
policy-level workshop at a third-country location (to be determined
later) would meet to consider and recommend a course of action for
implementation to their respective governments.
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Blow by Blow
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6. (SBU) After welcoming the Afghan and Pakistani delegations and
stating the main objectives of the Workshop, the Chairman
underscored that comments and statements made during the proceedings
would not be attributed to any specific party and were non-binding.
Following introductions, each Afghan and Pakistani official
explained the institutional mandates of their particular agency and
highlighted specific areas of interest. Through animated
cross-table discussion, the broad areas of interest and concern that
became the subjects for follow up operational meetings began to
emerge.
6. (SBU) The second workshop day began with s presentation by one of
the Canadian experts summarizing the general issues from the
previous day's discussions. It was followed by a series of formal,
detailed presentations by the Pakistani and Afghan delegations. In
terms of reconstruction and rehabilitation, it was the consensus of
the two delegations that the root cause of many of the threats from
armed terrorist groups and narco-trafficking activities stem from
the poverty of the frontier areas. Thus social and economic
development was seen as crucial for addressing such issues as the
legal movement of goods and people between the two countries, the
maintenance of law and order, and countering narcotics. In order to
have that development, it was also the consensus that the central
governments should engage tribal elders to raise community awareness
as a part of the consultative process common in the governance of
the area.
7. (SBU) On customs controls, the delegations discussed the need for
efficient revenue collection, facilitation of trade, and
strengthening enforcement efforts. The means discussed included
creating partnerships between private business and customs
authorities, strengthening inter-departmental coordination, and the
need for compatibility of systems and operations (such as
coordination of days and hours of operation, language, calendars and
software. Discussions about the movement of people tended to repeat
some of the points made earlier on the subject of economic
development and customs controls. The delegations discussed the
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need for proper personal documentation and identification, the need
to monitor the movement of people from one country to another, the
implications of the traditional movement of tribal people, and
Afghanistan's ability to absorb returning refugees.
9. (SBU) Discussions about law enforcement issues in general and
counter narcotics activities in particular began with the
recognition of the new security challenges in the "Post 9/11 World"
such as the links between organized crime, narcotics trafficking,
and terrorism. Presentations cited the need for effective equipment
to deter and defeat well-equipped and heavily armed criminals
operating in the region, the need to counter the over-riding
influence of the narcotics industry (including the growing,
harvesting, laboratories, precursor chemicals and transport aspects)
on law enforcement and security in both nations, and the need for
comprehensive drug supply and demand reduction programs. These
presentations also included a reiteration of the tie between the
lack of economic development in frontier areas and the growing
influence of criminal and terrorist groups.
10. (SBU) The final day of the workshop involved the development of
the "Road from Dubai" plan to build on the outcomes of the first two
days of discussions and capitalize on the momentum of the workshop.
The plan calls for a series of issue-specific, operational-level
workshops to study and develop concrete measures to maximize the
benefits of co-operation in areas of mutual interest. These
meetings are intended to be held in Pakistan and Afghanistan and
facilitated by Canada. After the completion of operational
workshops, the Dubai participants would meet again in a third
country, joined by representatives of the G8 partners and other
potential donor states to consider suggested concrete measures and
recommend courses of action regarding implementation to their
respective governments.
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Planning Ahead
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11. (SBU) The participants agreed that plans emerging from the
process be in keeping with the goals outlined in the recent 2007
Potsdam statement by the G8 foreign ministers, the Foreign Minister
of Afghanistan, and the Foreign Minister of Pakistan as well as the
goals of the August 2007 Peace Jirga. Planning for the follow up
meetings emphasized the need for the two nations to move
expeditiously to prepare for and convene the follow-on series of
workshops within the next four to eight months. By taking that
expeditious action and with support from Canada and its G8 partners,
practical outcomes could then be implemented in a timely and
meaningful manner.
12. (SBU) The subsequent declaration of a state of emergency in
Pakistan has obvious implications for organizing the follow-on
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series of workshops, and the willingness of the Canadian Government
to provide financial support. Given the great potential benefits to
improving working level contacts between the two countries on these
important cooperation issues including improved trade, the Embassy
will encourage the Canadian Embassy Kabul to continue to support
this process, which has started so well.
Wood
November 7, 2007
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