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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 OTTAWA 001881 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PREL CA AF PK
SUBJECT: G-8: CANADA LOOKING FOR HELP ON THE AFGHAN-PAK 
BORDER 
 
¶1. (SBU) Summary:  Canada's Foreign Ministry briefed G-8 
embassies on its recent mission to the Afghanistan-Pakistan 
border which was focused on border management, immigration, 
and counter-narcotics.  Under the G-8 border initiative 
Canada is taking the lead on the piece of the frontier where 
its troops are based -- the Spin Boldak/Chaman crossing in 
Khandahar/Baluchistan, but takes a broader interest in border 
management as well.  Canada wants to improve the physical 
infrastructure, the capacity of border officials, and the 
interaction between Afghan and Pakistani officials.  The GOC 
will host a three-day Afghanistan-Pakistan Joint Border 
Management Training Workshop in Dubai from October 30 to 
November 1, which will allow 10 senior officials from both 
Afghanistan and Pakistan to exchange ideas and develop 
workable policies.  The U.S., Germany, and Japan will be 
invited as observers.  The GOC also presented G-8 members 
with a list of projects that need attention, which it will 
coordinate with the U.S. Border Management Task Force in 
Kabul.  End Summary 
 
SECOND BORDER ASSESSMENT MISSION 
-------------------------------- 
 
¶2. (SBU) Jim Nickel, Director of the Office of South Asian 
Affairs in the Department of Foreign Affairs and 
International Trade, briefed G-8 reps October 4 on the 
mission by Canadian officials to the Afghanistan-Pakistan 
border in early September.  Nickel said this was the second 
such mission, the first focused on social and economic issues 
and programs, this one on border management, immigration, and 
counter-narcotics.  The team included senior Canadian border 
officials and visited Kabul, Islamabad, and the border 
crossings between Khandahar and Baluchistan.  In Kabul Nickel 
said the team coordinated with the U.S. Border Management 
Task Force, and also with World Bank and IMF missions doing 
similar work. 
 
¶3. (SBU) Nickel cited a number of practical problems to 
preventing and deterring illegitimate crossings of people and 
goods across what has long been an open border.  He said that 
the Afghans do not recognize the border as it is currently 
demarcated, and there is practically no communication and 
interaction between Afghan and Pakistani officials on a 
day-to-day basis.  The Afghans are very focused on customs 
collection but the Canadians did not see a clear system for 
managing the revenue.  They saw needs in all areas -- 
infrastructure, capacity building, and cross-border 
communication -- and believe it will take a concerted 
international effort over a lengthy period of time to make 
the border function properly. 
 
NEED A LITTLE HELP 
------------------ 
 
¶4. (SBU) Nickel said that Canada's efforts on the border will 
be managed as part of the G-8 initiative.  As a result of 
this mission, the GOC identified a number of areas that need 
attention, and Canada is asking G-8 partners to see where 
they might be in a position to help.  Some of them will be 
joint projects with Afghan and Pakistani officials working 
Qjoint projects with Afghan and Pakistani officials working 
and training together and some will be focused on the Afghan 
side of the border.  Canada will be putting a list out 
through G-8 Sherpas in advance of the G-8 Asia Directors 
meeting on October 24. 
 
DUBAI WORKSHOP -- OCTOBER 30 TO NOVEMBER 1 
------------------------------------------ 
 
¶5. (SBU) A key initiative by Canada is a Pak-Afghan Joint 
Border Management Workshop to be held in Dubai October 30 to 
November 1.  Nickel said that Dubai was taking support for 
the workshop quite seriously.  It will involve 10 senior 
officials from both Afghanistan and Pakistan, at the Director 
General and Director level, with the objective to: 
 
 
OTTAWA 00001881  002 OF 002 
 
 
-- develop professional and personal linkages 
-- increase mutual understanding of each other's 
institutional arrangements 
-- identify and assess high priority operational areas of 
border management that require strengthening 
-- prioritize areas of mutual interest for ongoing joint 
border management capacity building and cooperation 
 
Nickel said that they would like to limit outside 
participants in the workshop, but Germany as the current G-8 
chair, Japan as the future chair, and the United States 
because of the Border Management Task Force in Kabul are 
invited to send an observer.  Significantly, he said that the 
GOC hopes this will not be a one time project, but something 
that will lead to a series of workshops in Kabul and 
Islamabad, and strengthened capacity among the participants 
as a result. 
 
OTHER PROPOSALS 
--------------- 
 
¶6. (SBU) Other project proposals which the GOC suggested are: 
 
--  Establish customs/immigration border crossing facilities 
at Chaman/Spin Boldak 
--  Provision of a truck/container scanner at Chaman 
--  Provide Afghan Border Police and Pakistan Frontier 
Corps/Customs with canine teams for explosives and drugs 
--  Provide Pakistan Frontier Corps, Customs, and 
Anti-Narcotics Force with ion scanners, portable CN labs, 
4500cc vehicles, and solar panels for commo equipment. 
--  Support for UNODC Pakistan-Afghanistan-Iran 
anti-trafficking border management initiative. 
--  Support for Afghan communications/public diplomacy in 
tribal areas. 
--  Support for implementation and further roll-out of 
Pakistan's biometrics system 
--  Support for Afghanistan and Pakistan Jirga secretariats 
--  Support for cross-border, community policing in tribal 
areas 
--  Support for Pakistan-Afghanistan parliamentary exchanges 
 
¶7. (SBU) Interested parties may e-mail Embassy Ottawa 
political officer Keith Mines (Mineskw@state.gov) for the 
full list of projects and the background provided by the GOC 
on the Dubai workshop. 
 
Visit our shared North American Partnership blog (Canada & Mexico) at 
http://www.intelink.gov/communities/state/nap 
 
BREESE