VZCZCXRO0960
PP RUEHDBU RUEHIK RUEHPOD RUEHPW RUEHYG
DE RUEHBUL #3775/01 3120135
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 080135Z NOV 07
FM AMEMBASSY KABUL
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 1365
INFO RUEATRS/DEPT OF TREASURY WASHINGTON DC 0549
RUCNAFG/AFGHANISTAN COLLECTIVE
RUEHZG/NATO EU COLLECTIVE
RUEKJCS/OSD WASHINGTON DC
RUEKJCS/JOINT STAFF WASHINGTON DC
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHINGTON DC
RUEABND/DEA HQS WASHINGTON DC
RHMFIUU/HQ USCENTCOM MACDILL AFB FL
RHEHAAA/NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL WASHINGTON DC
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHINGTON DC
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHINGTON DC
RUCPDOC/DEPT OF COMMERCE WASHINGTON DC
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK 4264
RUEHFR/AMEMBASSY PARIS 2988
RUEHML/AMEMBASSY MANILA 1634
RUEHBY/AMEMBASSY CANBERRA 0281
RUEHOT/AMEMBASSY OTTAWA 1406
RUEHNE/AMEMBASSY NEW DELHI 7164
RUEHJA/AMEMBASSY JAKARTA 0065
RUEHRL/AMEMBASSY BERLIN 2120
RUEHUL/AMEMBASSY SEOUL 0087
RUEHLO/AMEMBASSY LONDON 3774
RUEHKO/AMEMBASSY TOKYO 1963

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 04 KABUL 003775 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR SCA/FO, SCA/RA, AND SCA/A (A/S BOUCHER, GASTRIGHT,DEUTSCH) 
DEPT PASS AID/ANE, OPIC 
DEPT PASS USTR FOR GERBER AND KLEIN 
DEPT PASS OPIC FORZAHNISER 
DEPT PASS TDA FOR STEIN AND GREENIP 
CENTCOM FOR CG CFC-A, CG CJTF-76, POLAD, JICENT 
NSC FOR JWOOD 
TREASURY FOR ABAUKOL, BDAHL, AND MNUGENT 
MANILA PLEASE PASS ADB/USED 
PARIS FOR OECD/ENERGY ATTACHE 
OSD FOR SHIVERS, SHINN 
COMMERCE FOR DEES, CHOPPIN, AND FONOVICH 
TOKYO ALSO FOR AID COUNSELOR AANENSON 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958 N/A 
TAGS: ECON ETRD EFIN EPET EAID PGOV AF
SUBJECT: AF: Afghan-Pakistani Bilateral Trade and Security Talks 
Sponsored by Canadians 
 
Sensitive but Unclassified 
 
¶1. (SBU) Summary and Comment:  US Embassy Kabul representatives 
attended the Afghanistan-Pakistan Cooperation Workshop, sponsored by 
the Canadian Government in Dubai, October 30 - November 1.  Senior 
Afghan and Pakistani officials responsible for customs, immigration 
and border security spent three days identifying mutual areas of 
concerns and possible ways forward as well as building professional 
links.  Operational-level workshops on these issues will be held in 
Kabul or Islamabad within the next four to six months to propose 
strategies for improving the legal movement of goods and people 
between the two countries, the maintenance of law and order, and 
countering narcotics.  Embassy Kabul will continue to monitor and 
encourage this process.  End Summary and Comment. 
 
--------------------------- 
Encouraging Open Discussion 
--------------------------- 
 
¶2. (SBU) US Embassy Kabul's Border Management Task Force (BMTF) 
Customs Advisor attended the Afghanistan-Pakistan Cooperation 
Workshop in Dubai, October 30 through November 1, 2007, sponsored by 
the Canadian Government.  The workshop aimed to further develop 
professional links between the responsible Afghan and Pakistani 
senior officials in a neutral setting, increase the level of mutual 
understanding of each nation's institutional arrangements, and 
identify and prioritize operational areas of mutual interest for 
ongoing joint management, capacity building and or cooperation by 
Afghanistan and Pakistan.  These areas included customs controls, 
immigration trends and practices, law enforcement challenges, 
narcotics trafficking, terrorism threats, and economic issues in 
frontier areas of Afghanistan and Pakistan. 
 
¶3. (SBU) Chaired by Jim Nickel, the Director South Asia Division, 
Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade - Canada, the 
workshop was conducted in a spirit of cooperation among the 
Pakistani and Afghan delegations.  In addition to the Pakistani and 
Afghan participants, two Canadian experts and an EmbOff participated 
in the discussions with observers from Germany and Japan (the 
outgoing and incoming Chair nations of the G8) and Canada also in 
attendance.  Each delegation made various presentations on 
"cooperation" issues (as opposed to references to "border" issues 
that were removed at the request of the Afghan government) with 
subsequent clarifying discussions. 
 
¶4. (SBU) Participants agreed to conduct a series of issue-specific, 
operational-level workshops in either Kabul or Islamabad (to be 
determined in the immediate future) as a first step.  These are 
intended to further study high-priority areas of: 
 
      -- Connecting government to the people through social and 
economic development, 
 
KABUL 00003775  002 OF 004 
 
 
 
-- Customs and Counter Narcotics, and 
 
-- Managing the movement of people and Law Enforcement. 
 
¶4. (SBU) Once concrete, cooperative operational-level initiatives 
are identified by the two governments, it was agreed another 
policy-level workshop at a third-country location (to be determined 
later) would meet to consider and recommend a course of action for 
implementation to their respective governments. 
 
------------- 
Blow by Blow 
------------- 
 
¶6. (SBU) After welcoming the Afghan and Pakistani delegations and 
stating the main objectives of the Workshop, the Chairman 
underscored that comments and statements made during the proceedings 
would not be attributed to any specific party and were non-binding. 
Following introductions, each Afghan and Pakistani official 
explained the institutional mandates of their particular agency and 
highlighted specific areas of interest.  Through animated 
cross-table discussion, the broad areas of interest and concern that 
became the subjects for follow up operational meetings began to 
emerge. 
 
¶6. (SBU) The second workshop day began with s presentation by one of 
the Canadian experts summarizing the general issues from the 
previous day's discussions.  It was followed by a series of formal, 
detailed presentations by the Pakistani and Afghan delegations.  In 
terms of reconstruction and rehabilitation, it was the consensus of 
the two delegations that the root cause of many of the threats from 
armed terrorist groups and narco-trafficking activities stem from 
the poverty of the frontier areas.  Thus social and economic 
development was seen as crucial for addressing such issues as the 
legal movement of goods and people between the two countries, the 
maintenance of law and order, and countering narcotics.  In order to 
have that development, it was also the consensus that the central 
governments should engage tribal elders to raise community awareness 
as a part of the consultative process common in the governance of 
the area. 
 
¶7. (SBU) On customs controls, the delegations discussed the need for 
efficient revenue collection, facilitation of trade, and 
strengthening enforcement efforts.  The means discussed included 
creating partnerships between private business and customs 
authorities, strengthening inter-departmental coordination, and the 
need for compatibility of systems and operations (such as 
coordination of days and hours of operation, language, calendars and 
software.  Discussions about the movement of people tended to repeat 
some of the points made earlier on the subject of economic 
development and customs controls.  The delegations discussed the 
 
KABUL 00003775  003 OF 004 
 
 
need for proper personal documentation and identification, the need 
to monitor the movement of people from one country to another, the 
implications of the traditional movement of tribal people, and 
Afghanistan's ability to absorb returning refugees. 
 
¶9. (SBU) Discussions about law enforcement issues in general and 
counter narcotics activities in particular began with the 
recognition of the new security challenges in the "Post 9/11 World" 
such as the links between organized crime, narcotics trafficking, 
and terrorism.  Presentations cited the need for effective equipment 
to deter and defeat well-equipped and heavily armed criminals 
operating in the region, the need to counter the over-riding 
influence of the narcotics industry (including the growing, 
harvesting, laboratories, precursor chemicals and transport aspects) 
on law enforcement and security in both nations, and the need for 
comprehensive drug supply and demand reduction programs.  These 
presentations also included a reiteration of the tie between the 
lack of economic development in frontier areas and the growing 
influence of criminal and terrorist groups. 
 
¶10. (SBU) The final day of the workshop involved the development of 
the "Road from Dubai" plan to build on the outcomes of the first two 
days of discussions and capitalize on the momentum of the workshop. 
The plan calls for a series of issue-specific, operational-level 
workshops to study and develop concrete measures to maximize the 
benefits of co-operation in areas of mutual interest.  These 
meetings are intended to be held in Pakistan and Afghanistan and 
facilitated by Canada.  After the completion of operational 
workshops, the Dubai participants would meet again in a third 
country, joined by representatives of the G8 partners and other 
potential donor states to consider suggested concrete measures and 
recommend courses of action regarding implementation to their 
respective governments. 
 
-------------- 
Planning Ahead 
-------------- 
 
¶11. (SBU) The participants agreed that plans emerging from the 
process be in keeping with the goals outlined in the recent 2007 
Potsdam statement by the G8 foreign ministers, the Foreign Minister 
of  Afghanistan, and the Foreign Minister of Pakistan as well as the 
goals of the August 2007 Peace Jirga.  Planning for the follow up 
meetings emphasized the need for the two nations to move 
expeditiously to prepare for and convene the follow-on series of 
workshops within the next four to eight months.  By taking that 
expeditious action and with support from Canada and its G8 partners, 
practical outcomes could then be implemented in a timely and 
meaningful manner. 
 
¶12. (SBU) The subsequent declaration of a state of emergency in 
Pakistan has obvious implications for organizing the follow-on 
 
KABUL 00003775  004 OF 004 
 
 
series of workshops, and the willingness of the Canadian Government 
to provide financial support.  Given the great potential benefits to 
improving working level contacts between the two countries on these 
important cooperation issues including improved trade, the Embassy 
will encourage the Canadian Embassy Kabul to continue to support 
this process, which has started so well. 
 
Wood 
 
 
  November 7, 2007 
 
0 
 
 
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