PAKISTANI FM KASURI'S JULY 5 MEETING WITH FRENCH

C O N F I D E N T I A L PARIS 004854 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/13/2016 TAGS: FR IO PK PREL SUBJECT: PAKISTANI FM KASURI'S JULY 5 MEETING WITH FRENCH FM DOUSTE-BLAZY Classified By: Acting Political Counselor Will Owen for reasons 1.4 (b/ d). ¶1. (C) SUMMARY: Pakistani Foreign Minister Khurshid Kasuri discussed a range of issues with French Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy in meetings in Paris on July 5. According to the MFA's Pakistan desk officer, Kasuri appeared stunned when Douste-Blazy requested a list of the sensitive technologies transferred by Pakistani scientist Khan to Iran. Kasuri brushed aside concerns about Iran's delaying tactics, suggesting the dispute between the P5 1 and Iran over whether Iran should respond to the incentives package amounted to "a couple of weeks." Kasuri likened the Israeli reaction to the abduction of Israeli Cpl. Gilad Shalit to the "tactics employed by the Third Reich." On the bilateral front the GoF and Pakistan discussed enlarging their areas of cooperation and creating a strategic partnership. END SUMMARY. UN REFORM AND IRAN -------------- ¶2. (C) PolOff met with French MFA Pakistan desk officer Cyril Gerardon on July 11 for readout of the Kasuri/Douste-Blazy meetings in Paris on July 5. On the subject of UN reform, Gerardon reported that Kasuri emphasized that the UN needed to become more "egalitarian," and added that this could not be achieved if Pakistan were not given a seat on the Security Council along with India. Switching to Iran, Douste-Blazy inquired about Abdul Qader Khan,s nuclear dealings with Iran, and asked if Pakistan would provide a listing of sensitive technologies, destinations, and financial information concerning technology transfers to Iran. Kasuri, surprised by the question, answered that that information had already been provided to the satisfaction of the United States. Given his respected position as the father of Pakistan's nuclear program, Kahn could not be punished for his actions, Kasuri concluded. ¶3. (C) Kasuri continued by saying that the recent dispute between the P5 1 and Iran over whether Iran should respond to the incentives package in mid-July or early August amounted to a difference of a "couple of weeks," which, Kasuri contended, was minor. He added that there was a large Iranian domestic component to the Iranian nuclear issue that the West should not ignore. Kasuri expressed regret that acrimony between the U.S. and Iran was preventing the two countries from better exploiting their many convergent interests. He said that the U.S. and Iran would both benefit from stable governments in Iraq and Afghanistan; he said that both countries were against the Taliban in Afghanistan and against the Baathist and Wahabi resistance in Iraq. Sadly, he added, neither government seems willing to work with the other in pursuit of common goals. ISRAEL -------------- ¶4. (C) While Douste-Blazy said that the Israeli reaction to the abduction of Israeli Cpl. Gilad Shalit was disproportionate, Kasuri called it completely inhumane and likened it, Gerardon said, to "strategies and tactics employed by the Third Reich." Kasuri claimed that Pakistan, perhaps more than any other Muslim nation, has reached out to Jews, and he cited Pakistani President Musharraf's meeting with members of the American Jewish Committee. Kasuri said that Musharraf viewed contact with an "enlightened Jewish community" -- that recognized the utility of compromising with the Palestinians -- as a means of progressing towards a peaceful solution to the conflict. He added that recent Israeli actions have dampened Pakistani optimism that such a solution is attainable with the current Israeli government. Kasuri opined that the U.S., with elections coming up and concerns about Iraq, was limited in what it could do to improve the situation. RUSSIA -------------- ¶5. (C) Kasuri expressed shock and anger in response to Russian President Vladimir Putin,s statement following the killing of five Russian diplomats in Iraq. Kasuri, who showed little sympathy for the Russian president through the meetings, thought that the heavy-handed statement ran the risk of exacerbating tensions between the Muslim world and the West. Kasuri encouraged France to combat negative stereotypes of Islam and Muslims in France and in the EU saying that ordinary Pakistanis were very much concerned with Western portrayals of Islam, which regularly received prominent play in the Pakistani press. 2007 ELECTIONS -------------- ¶6. (C) Douste-Blazy pushed for democratic elections in Pakistan in 2007 in accordance with the expectations of the international community. Kasuri, while never promising that such elections would occur, affirmed that the underpinnings of a more democratic society were already in place in Pakistan, such as a free press (Kasuri called it an "unruly press") and a parliament that had been duly elected. BILATERAL -------------- ¶7. (C) On the bilateral front, the GoF and Pakistan discussed enlarging their areas of cooperation and creating a strategic partnership (Gerardon explained that the term Strategic Partnership, in the case of Pakistan did not put it on par with the strategic partnership France already enjoys with India). France and Pakistan agreed to establish a technical university in Karachi, and Kasuri pushed for a Renault assembly plant to be built in Karachi. The two parties also discussed the sale of armaments, though Gerardon said Douste-Blazy stressed the importance of controlling access to dual-use technologies. Please visit Paris' Classified Website at: http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/eur/paris/index.c fm STAPLETON