FRENCH MFA ON AFGHANISTAN AND PAKISTAN

C O N F I D E N T I A L PARIS 000475 SIPDIS DEPARTMENT FOR SCA/A REOTT, EUR/RPM COPE, EUR/ERA WEISFIED E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/30/2019 TAGS: PREL MOPS PINS EAID NATO FR AF PK SUBJECT: FRENCH MFA ON AFGHANISTAN AND PAKISTAN DELIVERABLES FOR THE NATO AND U.S.-EU SUMMITS REF: A. PARIS 465 ¶B. STATE 29482 ¶C. MARCH 26 PARIS POINTS ¶D. STATE 28929 ¶E. PARIS 415 Classified By: Political Minister-Counselor Kathleen Allegrone, 1.4 (b/ d). ¶1. (C) For the record, the French have responded positively to the outline of U.S. policy on Afghanistan and Pakistan presented by President Obama. We have shared the information in reftels requesting additional assistance on a number of fronts in Afghanistan and Pakistan with senior MFA and Elysee officials. The French remain focused on a deliverable for the Summit first broached by French Special Envoy for Afghanistan and Pakistan Lellouche on March 11, that is, the deployment of a French gendarme training unit of approximately 150 persons. They are working with other Europeans in the European Gendarme Force (Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, Portugal, and Romania) to increase the overall deployment to about 300 to 450 (refs a and c). As noted, the French are prepared to announce their contribution alone, if the other European members of the EGF are unable to agree on a deployment prior to the Summit. We also continue to work with them to win their support for a NTM-A, as one mechanism for overseeing the various civilian and military police training missions. French policy interlocutors, most recently MFA A/S for security affairs Audibert on March 26, have responded with extreme caution when asked about additional civilian and military assistance France might provide in coming months (ref a). ¶2. (C) MFA Pakistan desk officer Nicolas Bergeret reaffirmed to us on March 30 that the GOF views positively programs to assist Pakistan's economic and security development (refs d and e),but Bergeret could not/not elaborate on whether the GOF would commit to a strong pledge at the April 17 Pakistan Donors Conference in Tokyo. French SRAP Lellouche will attend the Tokyo conference. PEKALA