CODEL CASEY'S AUGUST 25 MEETING WITH MINISTER OF

C O N F I D E N T I A L ISLAMABAD 002208


E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/31/2024
TAGS: PGOV ETRD PREL PTER AF PK
SUBJECT: CODEL CASEY'S AUGUST 25 MEETING WITH MINISTER OF
STATE FOR FOREIGN AFFAIRS

Classified By: Ambassador Anne W. Patterson, Reasons 1.4 b, d.


1. (C) Summary: In an August 25 meeting with CODEL Casey,
Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Nawabzada Malik Amad
Khan emphasized the need for a long-term enduring partnership
between the United States and Pakistan. He argued for
increased trade preferences for Pakistani goods through the
long-promised Reconstruction Opportunity Zones and stressed
the need to provide better quality public education -- citing
both as important steps to combat terrorism. Khan stressed
that better regional relations with India were essential and
pressed for an end to public criticism of the Pakistan
government's commitment to fighting terrorism. The Minister
of State praised the USG focus on energy, noting that this
sort of long-term commitment would help allay suspicions
about USG intentions in the country. Foreign Secretary
Bashir emphasized that Pakistan sought stability in
Afghanistan and that more needed to be done to integrate the
South and Central Asian region. End Summary.

Reconstruction Opportunity Zones


2. (C) In his August 25 meeting with CODEL Casey, Minister of
State for Foreign Affairs Nawabzada Malik Amad Khan thanked
the delegation for Congressional support of the Kerry-Lugar
foreign assistance bill. At the same time, he noted that
increased trade and private sector development were more
important than assistance for the Pakistani economy and
pressed for immediate passage of Reconstruction Opportunity
Zone (ROZ) legislation. Senator Brown questioned whether the
creation of ROZs would result in the expansion of firms and
their entrance into new production lines or simply their
relocation to different areas of the country. The Minister
of State asserted that trade preferences would result in
increased production and also cited the critical need to
focus investment in the under-served tribal areas of the
country. Foreign Secretary Bashir added that everyone
understood it would be difficult for businesses in large
areas of ROZ geographic coverage to take immediate advantage
of trade preferences due to security and infrastructure
concerns. However, he argued that creation of the ROZs was
critical to signal to the population in these areas that the
international community was concerned with their economic
future and did not view the area simply as a battleground
against terrorists. Bashir viewed the ROZs as the first
phase of an effort to demonstrate to the region that it had a
future beyond armed conflict.


3. (C) Senator Brown underscored that while the Congress
wanted to move forward on ROZ legislation, it was critical
that all free trade agreements contained stringent labor
standards that were actually enforced by our trading
partners. Senator Brown noted that this was a global issue.
Foreign Secretary Bashir stated that Pakistan was part of the
International Labor Organization (ILO) and that it had
undertaken a number of international commitments in this
regard. He claimed that this government was determined to
ensure that all of these standards were met on the ground but
that this would take time as previous undemocratic
governments had not made this a priority. The Foreign
Secretary told Senator Brown that high standards were a good
thing but requested that in drafting the standard, the
Senators keep Pakistan "ground realities" in view. Both the
Foreign Secretary and Minister Khan underscored that rampant
poverty and poor educational opportunities were largely
responsible for the serious child labor problem in the
country and that both would take time to address. Foreign
Secretary Bashir also urged the Senators to view ROZs as a
counter-terrorism tool rather than a normal trade agreement
and not/not to set impossible standards.

Long-Term Relationship


4. (C) Senator Casey noted that the United States was often
perceived as pursuing tactical interests rather than a
long-term relationship in Pakistan. He noted that the Obama
Administration was trying to change this perception and to
engage not just on current challenges but instead to have a
more enduring relationship on multiple levels. Minister Khan
underscored that the USG commitment to assist with energy
would certainly help in this regard. He also believed that
President Obama's personal involvement with the Friends of
Democratic Pakistan and his ties to the country were helpful
in overcoming the lingering perceptions of American
short-sightedness that were holdovers from the fight against
the Soviets in Afghanistan. The Foreign Secretary agreed,
but noted that it was important that the United States take
cultural factors into account when framing its messages to
the Pakistani people.

India


5. (C) The Foreign Secretary highlighted that the
military-to-military relationship was and always had been a
critical component of the U.S.-Pakistan relationship, dating
back to the CENTO/SEATO period. He argued that much good
could come from enhancing this relationship. However, he
asserted that the Congress was mistakenly preoccupied with
India's security concerns. Bashir cited his respect for the
USG decision to delink India and Pakistan in its defense
sales, but asserted that within the Congress there had been a
definite tilt towards the Indian perspective. According to
Bashir, the Congress was refusing to provide some defense and
dual-use items to Pakistan for fear that it would be used
against India. This had, in Bashir's view, unfairly limited
U.S.-Pakistan defense cooperation to the counter-terrorism
realm. Bashir encouraged the Senators to revisit this policy
in light of the improved relationship between India and
Pakistan, and Pakistan's recent track record of cooperation
rather than conflict with India. He implored that better
relations between the United States and India should not/not
be at the expense of Pakistan.

Regional Focus


6. (C) The Foreign Secretary argued that despite lingering
challenges, the overall trends in South and Central Asia were
positive. He urged the United States to look not only at
Pakistan, but rather at the wider region were he believed
democracy had finally taken root. The Foreign Secretary
believed that cross-border cooperation in the region and
development projects that assisted in fostering
trans-regional trade could greatly improve the prospects of
the region as a whole. With democracy now firmly entrenched
throughout the region, the Foreign Secretary argued that it
was time to encourage closer regional cooperation and to
resolve outstanding issues between neighbors. The Foreign
Secretary underscored that it was imperative that the United
States and other donors assist regional democratic
governments in delivering services to their populations,
arguing that if expectations are not met, people will lose
faith in democracy. The Foreign Secretary also encouraged
greater foreign direct investment in the region.

Combatting Terrorism


7. (C) Congressman Space stressed that the United States was
changing its approach in the fight against terrorism to
emphasize economic and social development as the previous
approach had failed. He promised that the United States was
making a long-term commitment to development in South and
Central Asia with the intent to tie the region more closely
together economically, which he viewed as in our mutual
benefit. Congressman Space, however, cautioned that success
in Afghanistan was critical to this effort and that this was
the "last chance" to get it right, as there was a strong
possibility that if the current strategy failed, there would
be tragic and long-lasting consequences. Congressman Space
stressed Pakistan's responsibility to help stabilize
Afghanistan and the need for honesty on both sides of the
United States-Pakistan relationship, which he noted in the
past had been lacking with painful consequences for both
countries.


8. (C) The Foreign Secretary and Minster of State both
expressed agreement with the Congressman's views. The
Minister of State stressed that Pakistan was the biggest
victim of terrorism and that no one should accuse Pakistan of
either not understanding the problem or of not doing enough
to combat it. Khan claimed that the public perception in
Pakistan had noticeably changed in recent months and that
thanks to the efforts of the democratic government, the
public was now fully supportive of efforts to root out
extremism and terrorism. Foreign Secretary Bashir added that
it is counter-productive when Pakistan constantly has to
prove its anti-terrorism credentials or when India accuses
Pakistan of not doing enough to combat regional terrorist
threats.


9. (C) Minister of State Khan stated that Pakistan desired
peace in South Asia and that both sides had suffered from the
Indo-Pak conflict. He asserted that over the last year
Pakistan had made a concerted effort to combat regional
terrorism but that the media and the Indian government
unfairly continued to place the blame for all regional
terrorist incidents on Pakistan. He was disappointed that
the Composite Dialogue with India had been stalled since last
November and termed it "unfortunate" that a small number of
radicals had been allowed to derail this critical regional
peace process and tarnish the name of Islam. The Foreign
Secretary concurred, stating that "we were not the only ones
to play intelligence games in the region," and adding that it
was not in Pakistan's interests to destabilize the region.

Afghanistan


10. (C) The Foreign Secretary stated that Pakistan was
prepared to redouble its efforts to support stability in
Afghanistan, as it was not in Pakistan's interest to see the
country slip backwards into the chaos of the 1990s. Bashir
claimed that Pakistan had a good relationship with Afghan
President Karzai, but that his government would work with
whoever ultimately won the Afghan elections. Bashir stressed
that his government had not/not intervened in the Afghan
elections and had even offered to enable Afghan refugees
living in Pakistan to vote, although this had turned out not
to be a priority for the Afghan government or the
international community. The Foreign Secretary stated that
Pakistan's interests were (1) to see a peaceful, united,
stable Afghanistan with its territorial integrity intact and
(2) to see an Afghanistan in which the people, the tribes
along the border, and the government were favorably disposed
towards Pakistan. Bashir underscored that it was in
Pakistan's interest to control the Afghanistan-Pakistan
border, but that this effort required joint cooperation both
on border management and border stabilization. Bashir
claimed that Pakistan had successfully cleared its border
region of militants but that they continued to come across
from Afghanistan. He also stressed the need to deal with
weapons and financial flows to terrorist groups in the border
areas that came from "across the region and not from
Afghanistan."


11. (U) Pakistan Government Participants:
Nawabzada Malik Amad Khan, Minister of State for Foreign
Affairs
Salman Bashir, Foreign Secretary
Sohail Mahmood, Director General of the Foreign Service
Attiya Mahmood, Assistant Secretary for the Americas
Sohail Khan, Director General for the Americas
Fozia Bibi, Assistant Director USA

USG Participants
Senator Robert Casey
Senator Sherrod Brown
Congressman Zach Space
Ambassador Patterson
Mark Powden, Chief of Staff to Senator Brown
Brendan Fogerty, USMC Fellow to Senator Casey
Major Collin Brooks, Military Escort
Bryan Hunt, Political Counselor (notetaker)


PATTERSON