NORWAY GIVES $2.3M FOR PAKISTAN IDPS, HAPPY TO

C O N F I D E N T I A L OSLO 000169 SIPDIS FOR PRM/ECA NORMAN HASTINGS, MARY BETH GOODMAN, AND TARA FOLEY E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/16/2019 TAGS: EAID PHUM PREF EFIN IBRD IMF PK NO SUBJECT: NORWAY GIVES $2.3M FOR PAKISTAN IDPS, HAPPY TO JOIN FOP AND TOKYO PAKISTAN DONORS CONFERENCE REF: A. STATE 21407 ¶B. STATE 24367 Classified By: Political Counselor Kristen Bauer for reasons 1.4 (b) an d (d) ¶1. (C) Summary: Last week Norway announced $2.3 million of aid that will go to UNICEF and the ICRC to help the northwest frontier provinces. While thrilled to be included in the Friends of Pakistan (FOP) group, as well as being asked to join the upcoming Tokyo Donor's conference, the GON sees it's role as primarily one of technical cooperation rather than as a large donor. End summary. ¶2. (C) Poloff met with Knut Espeland, senior advisor in the Afghanistan/Pakistan section of the GON MFA, who had yesterday returned from a trip to Pakistan. Espeland said that last week in Pakistan, State Secretary Raymond Johansen announced a contribution of $2.3 million for humanitarian needs: $1 million for UNICEF through the UN consolidated appeal and $1.3 million to the ICRC. All these donations are earmarked for the northwest frontier provinces, and will go to stabilize the situation both for IDPs and in the border areas. Espeland said the GON would consider further, similar support, based on an evaluation of the evolving situation. He commented that the burden of suffering that Pakistan is carrying is immense, with death tolls that exceed those in either Afghanistan or Iraq, and expressed his appreciation for the US's role in continuing to highlight the importance of helping Pakistan. ¶3. (C) On the April 17 donors conference to take place in Tokyo, Espeland said that the GON had been demarched in Oslo, called into the MFA in Tokyo, and spoken to by the Pakistani government. Espeland characterized Norway as a "longstanding friend of Pakistan," and was gratified that the GON will be invited to the FOP meetings, although he said that as far as he was aware Norway had not received an "official" invitation. As for the donor's conference, Norway is very happy to participate, but Espeland said its contributions would not be anywhere near the level of either the US contribution of $1 billion or the overall $4 billion goal. Still, Espeland said that the GON is very interested in exploring possibilities for "technical cooperation" in the energy sector, if Pakistan was interested. ¶4. (C) In an aside, Espeland said that his current read of the situation was that the behavior of Sharif and the army in the current crisis indicated that both were content at the moment to leave the "mess" in the president's hands. Paradoxically, he said, this bodes well for the short-term political stability of Pakistan. WHITNEY