G-8: CANADA LOOKING FOR HELP ON THE AFGHAN-PAK

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 OTTAWA 001881 SIPDIS SENSITIVE SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PGOV PREL CA AF PK SUBJECT: G-8: CANADA LOOKING FOR HELP ON THE AFGHAN-PAK BORDER ¶1. (SBU) Summary: Canada's Foreign Ministry briefed G-8 embassies on its recent mission to the Afghanistan-Pakistan border which was focused on border management, immigration, and counter-narcotics. Under the G-8 border initiative Canada is taking the lead on the piece of the frontier where its troops are based -- the Spin Boldak/Chaman crossing in Khandahar/Baluchistan, but takes a broader interest in border management as well. Canada wants to improve the physical infrastructure, the capacity of border officials, and the interaction between Afghan and Pakistani officials. The GOC will host a three-day Afghanistan-Pakistan Joint Border Management Training Workshop in Dubai from October 30 to November 1, which will allow 10 senior officials from both Afghanistan and Pakistan to exchange ideas and develop workable policies. The U.S., Germany, and Japan will be invited as observers. The GOC also presented G-8 members with a list of projects that need attention, which it will coordinate with the U.S. Border Management Task Force in Kabul. End Summary SECOND BORDER ASSESSMENT MISSION -------------- ¶2. (SBU) Jim Nickel, Director of the Office of South Asian Affairs in the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade, briefed G-8 reps October 4 on the mission by Canadian officials to the Afghanistan-Pakistan border in early September. Nickel said this was the second such mission, the first focused on social and economic issues and programs, this one on border management, immigration, and counter-narcotics. The team included senior Canadian border officials and visited Kabul, Islamabad, and the border crossings between Khandahar and Baluchistan. In Kabul Nickel said the team coordinated with the U.S. Border Management Task Force, and also with World Bank and IMF missions doing similar work. ¶3. (SBU) Nickel cited a number of practical problems to preventing and deterring illegitimate crossings of people and goods across what has long been an open border. He said that the Afghans do not recognize the border as it is currently demarcated, and there is practically no communication and interaction between Afghan and Pakistani officials on a day-to-day basis. The Afghans are very focused on customs collection but the Canadians did not see a clear system for managing the revenue. They saw needs in all areas -- infrastructure, capacity building, and cross-border communication -- and believe it will take a concerted international effort over a lengthy period of time to make the border function properly. NEED A LITTLE HELP -------------- ¶4. (SBU) Nickel said that Canada's efforts on the border will be managed as part of the G-8 initiative. As a result of this mission, the GOC identified a number of areas that need attention, and Canada is asking G-8 partners to see where they might be in a position to help. Some of them will be joint projects with Afghan and Pakistani officials working Qjoint projects with Afghan and Pakistani officials working and training together and some will be focused on the Afghan side of the border. Canada will be putting a list out through G-8 Sherpas in advance of the G-8 Asia Directors meeting on October 24. DUBAI WORKSHOP -- OCTOBER 30 TO NOVEMBER 1 -------------- ¶5. (SBU) A key initiative by Canada is a Pak-Afghan Joint Border Management Workshop to be held in Dubai October 30 to November 1. Nickel said that Dubai was taking support for the workshop quite seriously. It will involve 10 senior officials from both Afghanistan and Pakistan, at the Director General and Director level, with the objective to: OTTAWA 00001881 002 OF 002 -- develop professional and personal linkages -- increase mutual understanding of each other's institutional arrangements -- identify and assess high priority operational areas of border management that require strengthening -- prioritize areas of mutual interest for ongoing joint border management capacity building and cooperation Nickel said that they would like to limit outside participants in the workshop, but Germany as the current G-8 chair, Japan as the future chair, and the United States because of the Border Management Task Force in Kabul are invited to send an observer. Significantly, he said that the GOC hopes this will not be a one time project, but something that will lead to a series of workshops in Kabul and Islamabad, and strengthened capacity among the participants as a result. OTHER PROPOSALS -------------- ¶6. (SBU) Other project proposals which the GOC suggested are: -- Establish customs/immigration border crossing facilities at Chaman/Spin Boldak -- Provision of a truck/container scanner at Chaman -- Provide Afghan Border Police and Pakistan Frontier Corps/Customs with canine teams for explosives and drugs -- Provide Pakistan Frontier Corps, Customs, and Anti-Narcotics Force with ion scanners, portable CN labs, 4500cc vehicles, and solar panels for commo equipment. -- Support for UNODC Pakistan-Afghanistan-Iran anti-trafficking border management initiative. -- Support for Afghan communications/public diplomacy in tribal areas. -- Support for implementation and further roll-out of Pakistan's biometrics system -- Support for Afghanistan and Pakistan Jirga secretariats -- Support for cross-border, community policing in tribal areas -- Support for Pakistan-Afghanistan parliamentary exchanges ¶7. (SBU) Interested parties may e-mail Embassy Ottawa political officer Keith Mines (Mineskw@state.gov) for the full list of projects and the background provided by the GOC on the Dubai workshop. Visit our shared North American Partnership blog (Canada & Mexico) at http://www.intelink.gov/communities/state/nap BREESE