G8 ASIA DIRECTORS MEETING ON AFGHANISTAN AND

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 04 ROME 000409 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PREL PGOV MARR MOPS NATO IT AF PK EAID SUBJECT: G8 ASIA DIRECTORS MEETING ON AFGHANISTAN AND PAKISTAN, ROME, APRIL 6, 2009 REF: A. STATE 32712 ¶B. ROME 388 ROME 00000409 001.2 OF 004 ¶1. (U) Sensitive but Unclassified. Please protect accordingly. ¶2. (SBU) Summary: SCA PDAS Patrick Moon and S/SRAP Adviser Neil Kromash represented the U.S. at an April 6 G8 Asia Directors' Meeting in Rome convened by Italy to craft an agenda for its G8 Ministerial Outreach Meeting on Afghanistan and Pakistan, which will take place on June 26 on the margins of the G8 Foreign Ministerial in Trieste (June 25-26). All delegations agreed that the U.S. Afghan-Pakistan strategy and Iran's willingness to participate had given much needed impetus to the process. The G8's primary value in the crowded field of Afghanistan-Pakistan initiatives is in raising the profile of the issue, endorsing promising initiatives like Canada's Dubai process, improving coordination and avoiding duplication. All agreed on the importance of regional cooperation and of conferring a lead role on Afghanistan and Pakistan in any initiatives. The U.S. and Japan called for strong pledges from G8 members at the April 17 Pakistan Donors' Meeting in Tokyo. Iran, Turkey, Egypt, UAE, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan and China have confirmed their attendance at the Ministerial; Uzbekistan, Saudi Arabia and India have yet to commit. The Italians plan to hold another G8 Asia Directors meeting to discuss a Trieste Ministerial Statement following the Regional Economic Cooperation Conference on Afghanistan (RECCA) in Islamabad (May 13-14). End Summary. ¶3. (U) On April 6, Italian Special Envoy for Afghanistan and Pakistan Massimo Iannucci convened the meeting at the level of Asia Directors (Iannucci is dual-hatted as Director General for Asia),but most members were represented at a lower level. Japan was represented by Middle East and Africa DG Toshiro Suzuki, UK by South Asia and Afghanistan Director Adam Thomson, Canada by Afghanistan Task Force Director Renetta Seimens, Russia by Second Asian Department Director Alexander Mariyasov, France by Afghanistan Desk Officer Laurent Legodec and Germany by the Embassy Political Counselor. The European Commission was represented by Asia DG James Moran and the Council Secretariat by Tim Eestermans, Afghanistan-Pakistan Counselor to the EU High Representative. Trieste Agenda: Regional Dimension, Border Management, ;Trafficking, Trade and Transit - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - ¶4. (SBU) Iannucci presented the agenda as a stock-taking of recent international Afghan-Pakistan meetings and as a "brainstorming session" for the June 26 Trieste G8 Ministerial Meeting on Afghanistan and Pakistan. He reiterated Italy's priority areas for the Trieste Conference: Border Management, Drug Trafficking and Money Laundering, Cross-Border Economic and Social Development, and Civil Society Development in the border regions. All delegations concurred that the U.S. Afghan-Pakistan strategy and Iran's willingness to participate provides a much needed fresh approach and framework for international involvement in the region. The UK said the proliferation of recent Afghan-Pakistan meetings (Moscow SCO Meeting, The Hague "Big ROME 00000409 002.2 OF 004 Tent" Meeting, Munich Special Envoys Meeting and Abu Dhabi Friends of Pakistan Meeting),despite some duplication, was a positive development ("let the flowers bloom"),but said the challenge was to find where the G8 could add value. All agreed that the G8 should have a role in endorsing and strengthening effective Afghanistan-Pakistan initiatives already underway, such as the Canada-led Dubai Process, and agreed that the governments of Afghanistan and Pakistan need to be in a lead role in any initiatives. ¶5. (SBU) PDAS Moon presented the following U.S. proposals for the Trieste meeting agenda, all of which received a favorable response from members present: -- Transit Trade: Highlight the importance of bilateral transit trade and engage in a discussion on how to bring the two sides closer together, including the need for an updated Afghan-Pakistan Transit Trade agreement, exploring the benefits of reduced trade barriers and areas where the G8 may be able to offer support (i.e., proposed U.S. Reconstruction Opportunity Zone Legislation, EU-Pakistan Trade Agreement, etc.); -- Border Management: Express G8 political and financial support for the Canada-led Dubai process, which aims to increase border cooperation in five priority areas (social and economic development, customs, immigration, law enforcement and counternarcotics); -- Jirgas: Express G8 political support for continuation of the cross-border jirga process that began with the August 2007 "Peace Jirga" in Afghanistan and continued with the 2008 "mini-jirga" in Pakistan; -- Cross-Border Projects: Agree to focus G8 attention and resources on several high-profile cross-border projects designed to improve bilateral relations, spur economic growth, create job opportunities and foster a growing perception among local inhabitants that development progress is taking place; -- Private Investment: Underline the diverse economic potential that exists along the entirety of the Afghan-Pakistan border (gems and minerals, hydropower, marble, etc.) and generate thoughts on local initiatives that the G8 can finance or otherwise promote even under difficult security conditions. G8 Endorsement for Best Afghanistan-Pakistan Initiatives - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - ¶6. (SBU) Canada outlined its recently-completed Action Plan for the Dubai Process and noted the positive participation of the U.S. Border Management Task Force at its March 28-29 meeting in Dubai, where Pakistan tabled a draft Bilateral Customs Agreement for Afghanistan's consideration. Members agreed that the Dubai process is making progress on concrete cross-border deliverables and merits increased increased G8 political and financial support. Canada also proposed a set of implementation guidelines for the G8 Coordination Arrangement agreed to at Kyoto in June 2008. The group agreed in principle to adopt this as a framework for continued G8 coordination between Afghanistan and Pakistan. Italy suggested inviting G8 Heads of Mission from Islamabad ROME 00000409 003.2 OF 004 to the Kabul G8 HOM Coordination Arrangement meetings and vice versa, and inviting Afghan and Pakistani government representatives to these meetings. The UK noted the success of the last U.S.-led Trilateral Meeting in Washington and urged support for future Trilaterals. ¶7. (SBU) PDAS Moon congratulated Russia for the success of the SCO conference and suggested that the G8 could explore having member governments commit to improving strategic communications with their own publics so as to raise understanding of shared goals in the region. Russia said that at the March 27 Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Conference on Afghanistan it had proposed a regional SCO Counter-Narcotics Center, training for up to 2000 Afghan Police Officers at the Federal Police Training Center in Domodedovo (which could be expanded to include Pakistani Police),and a series of expert-level CN and CT consultations, to which Afghanistan would be invited in the spirit of regional cooperation. The EC and U.S. suggested that the G8 could highlight the importance of concrete outcomes for the RECCA process, particularly if the May RECCA Meeting in Islamabad does not yield positive results. Iranian Participation Welcomed - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - ¶8. (SBU) All members agreed that Iranian participation in the Moscow and Hague conferences (and its agreement to participate in the Trieste conference) was a positive development. Italy noted that its command area in Western Afghanistan shares 600 km of border with Iran and that the Iranian presence is strong in Herat. Russia and others cited Counternarcotics cooperation as a fruitful area for intensified cooperation with Iran. S/E Iannucci said he would travel to Iran after Easter to discuss Iranian participation in Trieste. Regional Participation in Trieste Conference - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - ¶9. (SBU) Iran, Turkey, China, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, UAE and Egypt have officially agreed to attend the Trieste conference. Uzbekistan, Saudi Arabia and India have not yet committed (India has said that it will decide after its elections take place). Kyrgyzstan was not initially invited but has expressed an interest in attending. Trieste Way Ahead - - - - - - - - - ¶10. (SBU) The Italians plan to hold another G8 Asia Directors meeting to discuss Trieste following the RECCA in Islamabad (May 13-14). Before that meeting Italy will circulate a draft G8 Ministerial Conference Statement, and aims also to produce an "outreach" statement that will be adopted by the G8 together with Afghanistan and Pakistan and regional participants. Although it is not yet clear how best to reach outreach consensus on the latter text, the plan is to meet at the level of Afghanistan and Pakistan Office Directors in Trieste on June 25 to finalize texts, followed by a tentative schedule of four successively larger meetings on June 26: (1) G8 Foreign Ministerial meeting on Afghanistan-Pakistan; (2) G8 Ministers plus Afghan and Pakistani FMs; (3) G8 plus Afghan and Pakistan FMs plus other FMs from the region; (4) ROME 00000409 004.2 OF 004 an evening "outreach" event incorporating international organizations such as UNAMA, UNODC, UNHCR, OSCE, NATO, etc. (It is not yet clear how this schedule will mesh with the larger G8 Foreign Ministerial, which is scheduled to start the evening of June 25 and finish midway through June 26). Pakistan Donor Conference - - - - - - - - - - - - - ¶11. (SBU) Both the U.S. and Japan took the opportunity to make a coordinated appeal for robust pledges at the April 17 Pakistan Donors' Conference in Tokyo along the lines indicated in Ref A. In informal conversations on the margins of the meeting, the EC indicated that it is ready to make a "significant pledge;" Russia is unlikely to make a significant pledge due to its weak economy, and France was not ready to indicate a commitment. Italy will pledge between 30-40 million Euro in soft loans and is considering increasing that total to up to 20 million more (Ref B). Italy will focus its assistance on vocational training. Some members underscored the need to differentiate the Friends of Pakistan process from the Donor Conference. Pull-Aside with S/E Ianucci, Interview with La Repubblica - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - ¶12. (SBU) During a separate meeting with S/E Iannucci, PDAS Moon thanked him for Italy's announced contributions at the NATO Summit, including additional Election Support Forces, airlift and Carabinieri and Guardia di Finanza police trainers. Iannucci was pleased with the meetings he had had with S/SRAP Holbrooke the week before and hoped to visit Washington after the Tokyo Donors Conference. After the meeting, PDAS Moon reiterated U.S. appreciation of Italian contributions in Afghanistan and G8 leadership on the Afghanistan-Pakistan front in an interview with Italian daily La Repubblica. ¶13. (U) PDAS Moon has cleared on this cable. DIBBLE