PAKISTANI, AFGHAN, AND IRANIAN FOREIGN MINISTERS

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 ISLAMABAD 000190

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/26/2020
TAGS: PREL PGOV PTER ECON SNAR PK AF IR
SUBJECT: PAKISTANI, AFGHAN, AND IRANIAN FOREIGN MINISTERS
HOLD TRILATERAL MEETING, ISSUE DECLARATION ON COOPERATION

Classified By: Anne W. Patterson, Reasons 1.4 (b) and (d)


1. (C) Summary: Pakistani Foreign Minister Qureshi hosted
his Afghan and Iranian counterparts for a meeting in
Islamabad on January 16. This was the third high-level
gathering of the three countries in the past year -- which
included a trilateral heads-of-state summit in May 2009 in
Tehran. The foreign ministers issued a joint declaration
that outlined aspirations for future trilateral cooperation.
The sides agreed to upcoming meetings of their finance and
commerce ministers, interior ministers, and security and
intelligence chiefs, in preparation for a second trilateral
summit. The Afghan Embassy told us that trilateral
cooperation will principally be focused in three areas --
economics and trade, counter-narcotics, and counter-terrorism
-- but indicated that the whole initiative remains in a
nascent stage. End Summary.


2. (U) Pakistani Foreign Minister Qureshi hosted Afghan
Foreign Minister Spanta and Iranian Foreign Minister Mottaki
for a trilateral ministerial meeting in Islamabad on January

16. This was the third high-level gathering of the three
countries since Presidents Zardari, Karzai, and Ahmadinejad
agreed at the March 2009 Economic Cooperation Organization
summit (ECO) to meet in a trilateral format. The first
trilateral meeting, held in April 2009 in Kabul, brought the
countries' foreign ministers together to prepare for a
trilateral heads-of-state summit. The second trilateral
event was the summit itself, which took place in Tehran on
May 24, 2009.


3. (U) Qureshi, Spanta, and Mottaki issued a joint
declaration following their January 16 meeting that stated
that the three sides "strongly believe that their trilateral
cooperation is the key to regional peace" and expressed the
countries' intent to strengthen such cooperation. According
to the declaration, the sides agreed to enhance their
national counter-terrorism efforts through trilateral
intelligence sharing and greater operational cooperation, and
to increase their cooperation combating narco-trafficking and
other transnational crimes. The declaration also reaffirmed
the three countries' commitment to Afghanistan's
reconstruction, and outlined aspirations for greater economic
cooperation, including by establishing trilateral economic
and industrial commissions and by launching a feasibility
study on a joint investment fund. To implement the
trilateral cooperation initiative, the three countries agreed
in the declaration to establish a coordinating committee
headed by their deputy foreign ministers, and to hold
separate trilateral meetings of their finance and commerce
ministers, interior ministers, and security and intelligence
chiefs, all in preparation for a second trilateral summit,
which will be held in Islamabad on a yet-unspecified date.


4. (U) Speaking to the media following the January 16
meeting, Foreign Minister Qureshi said that Pakistan, Iran,
and Afghanistan are the three most important neighbors in
achieving peace and stability in Afghanistan and the region.
He described the joint declaration as a "roadmap for future
trilateral interaction."


5. (C) During a January 25 meeting with Deputy PolCouns,
Afghan Embassy First Secretary Izharulhaq Ahady said that the
impetus for the trilateral cooperation initiative came from
Ahmadinejad at the ECO summit. Ahady explained that the
initiative is focused in three principal areas -- economics
and trade, counter-narcotics, counter-terrorism. However, he
indicated that trilateral cooperation remains in a nascent
stage, with the details to be worked out in subsequent
high-level meetings. According to Ahady, the planned
meetings of the countries' finance and commerce ministers,
interior ministers, and security and intelligence chiefs will
develop modalities for future cooperation that will be
discussed at the follow-on leaders' summit. Deputy PolCouns
noted that in the January 16 joint declaration, the countries
agreed "to enhance regional connectivity through
establishment and development of energy and transport
corridors," and asked Ahady whether the foreign ministers had
discussed pipelines during their meeting. Ahady responded

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that the issue had not come up, and pointed out that there
are no pipeline proposals that would involve all three
countries.


6. (C) Though the joint declaration stated that the sides
would set up a coordinating body headed by deputy foreign
ministers, Ahady said he believed that coordination would
actually take place through lower-level channels. He
stressed that the initiative was not aimed against any other
country and would not impinge upon the three countries'
obligations toward other countries or other international
groupings.


7. (C) Comment: Despite three high-level meetings in less
than a year, the three countries do not appear to have thus
far made much headway on substantive trilateral cooperation.
The January 16 joint declaration is principally an agreement
to hold more high-level meetings and set up bodies that could
ultimately lead to actual cooperation. However, given
long-standing mutual suspicions among the three sides, and
the difficulties we have encountered in promoting bilateral
Pak-Afghan cooperation, we anticipate that trilateral
cooperation will proceed quite slowly. That said, one key
benefit of this initiative for Pakistan is that it is a
multilateral forum for working with the Afghans that excludes
the Indians, whose influence and activities in Afghanistan
the Pakistanis consider inimical to their own national
security interests.
PATTERSON