NATO BEGINS BUILDING A BROADER RELATIONSHIP WITH

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 USNATO 000198

NOFORN
SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/15/2019
TAGS: PREL NATO MOPS MARR PK AF
SUBJECT: NATO BEGINS BUILDING A BROADER RELATIONSHIP WITH
PAKISTAN

REF: A. STRASBOURG-KEHL SUMMIT DECLARATION ON AFGHANISTAN

B. SG(2009)0425

Classified By: A/PolAd A. "Hoot" Baez. Reasons: 1.4 (b) and (d).


1. (C/NF) SUMMARY: NATO Heads of State and Government agreed
at their 60th Anniversary Summit in April to build a broader
political and practical relationship with Pakistan. NATO has
begun implementing this decision, approving on May 15 the
Terms of Reference for a NATO Contact Point Embassy (CPE) in
Islamabad. Turkey has agreed that its embassy will take on
the CPE role. As a next step, NATO will begin the
development of the modalities for a Tailored Cooperation
Program with Pakistan. The NATO International Staff will
also seek Pakistani input into the process. Nations serving
in Regional Command - South have been particularly interested
in a broader NATO-Pakistan relationship and had recently
expressed frustration that NATO was not moving faster to
implement the Summit decision. At the May 13 meeting of the
North Atlantic Council, however, Canadian Permanent
Representative McRae expressed appreciation that progress was
finally being made. END SUMMARY


2. (C/REL NATO) Consistent with the new U.S. focus on a
regional approach to the war in Afghanistan, NATO Heads of
State and Government agreed at their April 3-4 Summit to
build a broader political and practical relationship with
Pakistan (ref A). Allies have begun taking steps to
implement this decision.

Establishment of a Contact Point Embassy
--------------


3. (C/REL NATO) On May 15, Allies approved the Terms of
Reference (TOR) for the establishment of a NATO Contact Point
Embassy (CPE) in Islamabad (ref B - emailed to EUR/RPM).
Turkey has agreed that its embassy in Pakistan will take on
the CPE role.


4. (C/REL NATO) CPEs are a well-established part of NATO's
outreach toolbox. A NATO CPE exists in each of the 22
countries in NATO's Partnership for Peace, as well as in the
countries in NATO's partnership structures for North Africa
and the broader Middle East. CPEs are usually assigned every
two years, based on principles of transparency and rotation.
In addition, the decision of taking up the role of Contact
Point Embassy is voluntary and based on individual nations'
assessment of their capacity to effectively perform this
role. In developing the TOR for a CPE in Islamabad, NATO
drew heavily on the pre-existing CPE policy. At the same
time, NATO also recognized that the situation in Pakistan was
unique and tailored the TOR accordingly.

Contact Point Embassy Functions...
--------------


5. (C/REL NATO) The Terms of Reference set forth five major
functions for the CPE:

-- Liaising regularly with other NATO member country
embassies in order to inform them on the NATO agenda and,
where deemed appropriate, request their assistance;

-- Disseminating information on NATO to target audiences in
Pakistan;

-- Reviewing and commenting on proposals for potential
visitors to NATO headquarters; evaluating the impact of such
visits in the country;

-- Assisting with visits of NATO officials in the country,

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including with regard to security aspects. As a general
rule, the Secretary General, the Deputy Secretary General and
other senior officials will continue the practice of briefing
the Contact Point Embassy (at a meeting convening all NATO
Ambassadors whenever possible) prior to the end of their
visits;

-- Assisting with visits of the NATO Standing Naval Maritime
Group to Pakistan, in close coordination with the Embassy of
the NATO nation to which the current Commander of the
Standing Naval Groups belong; and

-- To the extent they are able, the CPE should provide the
Political and Security Policy Division at NATO Headquarters
with any relevant information on developments or events which
may impact NATO's relations with Pakistan. In turn, the NATO
International Staff will provide, through the CPE's Mission
to NATO, regular overviews of current cooperation with
Pakistan.

And Guidelines
--------------


6. (C/NATO) The Terms of Reference make clear, however, that
the CPE should not be perceived as a formal NATO diplomatic
mission by the host country (i.e. Pakistan). In addition,
the TOR sets forth a number of guidelines which will apply to
the CPE. These include:

-- Formal notification to Pakistan of the designation of
Contact Point Embassies is done by NATO's International Staff
through the Pakistani Embassy in Brussels, with a copy to
NATO's national delegations;

-- The appropriate national authorities should regularly
inform the NATO Public Diplomacy Division (PDD) of the
contact point activities of their embassies, and provide the
names of important contacts, drawing PDD's attention to needs
and opportunities for information activities in country; PDD
should disseminate this information to national delegations;

-- PDD is responsible for regularly making available
information on NATO to the Contact Point Embassy for
dissemination purposes. PDD is also responsible for the
planning and organization of information activities involving
target audiences in the country. As such, PDD will keep the
Contact Point Embassy regularly informed of these activities
through national channels as appropriate;

-- Information on other approved activities will be made
available to Contact Point Embassies by relevant NATO
authorities through national channels as appropriate;

-- NATO's International Staff is responsible for making
available to Contact Point Embassies--through national
channels as appropriate--an updated list of contact persons
dealing with Pakistan at NATO Headquarters. Similarly, the
Contact Point Embassy should--through national channels as
appropriate--provide NATO's International Staff with an
updated list of contact persons dealing with the different
aspects of NATO in Pakistan;

-- Activities of the Contact Point Embassy are based on a
self-financing status;

-- NATO's Political Committee (PC) will ensure control and
coordination of the Contact Point Embassy's activities. The
PC will review the activities and role of the CPE 6 months
after its establishment;

-- These guidelines may be developed--subject to the approval

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of the PC--on the basis of the feedback obtained from the
Contact Point Embassy or based on possible suggestions from
the Pakistani side, but also as the relations with Pakistan
evolves.

-- Due consideration will be paid to avoid duplicating
efforts undertaken by other liaison mechanisms, notably by
existing or future ISAF Liaison offices in their
military-to-military contacts regarding ISAF matters. The
establishment of the Contact Point Embassy in Islamabad will
also be reviewed in light of the gradual implementation of
the ISAF Military Liaison Elements.

Next Steps
--------------

(C/REL NATO) The Political Committee has reached agreement in
principle to develop a Tailored Cooperation Package (TCP)
with Pakistan. NATO Secretary General de Hoop Scheffer said
at the May 13 North Atlantic Council that the PC should soon
begin the development of the modalities for the establishment
of the TCP. In addition, he said that the NATO International
Staff will invite a delegation from Islambad to visit
Brussels in order to get their input into the development of
the TCP.

COMMENT
--------------

(C/NF) Development of a broader NATO-Pakistan relationship
has been a particularly high priority for those countries
serving in Regional Command - South (RC-S). At a May 11
meeting of RC-S PermReps, several PermReps expressed
frustration that the Political Committee had not already
begun the development of TCP modalities. Upon hearing from
the Secretary General in the May 13 North Atlantic Council
meeting that the PC would soon take the issue forward,
Canadian PermRep McRae expressed his appreciation that
progress was finally being made. McRae pointed out that he
had been pressing NATO to develop a more robust relationship
with Pakistan for some time.
DAALDER