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Viewing cable 08BERLIN1548, GERMAN ENGAGEMENT WITH PAKISTAN AND VIEWS ON THE

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Reference ID Created Released Classification Origin
08BERLIN1548 2008-11-17 10:51 2011-08-24 01:00 UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY Embassy Berlin
VZCZCXYZ0000
OO RUEHWEB

DE RUEHRL #1548/01 3221051
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 171051Z NOV 08
FM AMEMBASSY BERLIN
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 2647
INFO RUEHAD/AMEMBASSY ABU DHABI IMMEDIATE 0156
RUEHAK/AMEMBASSY ANKARA PRIORITY 0658
RUEHBJ/AMEMBASSY BEIJING PRIORITY 0983
RUEHBY/AMEMBASSY CANBERRA PRIORITY 0724
RUEHBUL/AMEMBASSY KABUL PRIORITY 0587
RUEHLO/AMEMBASSY LONDON PRIORITY 9395
RUEHNE/AMEMBASSY NEW DELHI PRIORITY 0557
RUEHOT/AMEMBASSY OTTAWA PRIORITY 1143
RUEHFR/AMEMBASSY PARIS PRIORITY 9955
RUEHRH/AMEMBASSY RIYADH PRIORITY 0242
RUEHRO/AMEMBASSY ROME PRIORITY 1546
RUEHKO/AMEMBASSY TOKYO PRIORITY 1596
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK PRIORITY 0650
RUEHBS/USEU BRUSSELS PRIORITY
RUEHNO/USMISSION USNATO PRIORITY 0528
UNCLAS BERLIN 001548 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL PTER ECON EAID PK GM
SUBJECT: GERMAN ENGAGEMENT WITH PAKISTAN AND VIEWS ON THE 
NOVEMBER 17 FRIENDS MEETING 
 
REF: A. STATE 119783 
     B. BERLIN 462 
 
1. (SBU) SUMMARY. To help Pakistan deal with its broad range 
of challenges, Germany has significantly ramped up its 
diplomatic engagement with Islamabad and plans to double its 
development assistance.  Both Chancellor Merkel and FM 
Steinmeier have met with Pakistani leaders in recent weeks. 
Germany is strongly supportive of the Friends of Pakistan 
Group, and its views on the way ahead are largely in accord 
with those of the U.S. as outlined in ref A.  END SUMMARY. 
 
INCREASING GERMAN ENGAGEMENT 
 
2. (SBU) Germany has become increasingly engaged on the issue 
of Pakistan over the last several weeks, seeing, among other 
things, a direct connection between Pakistan's stability and 
the fate of the ISAF mission and the German deployment in 
Afghanistan.  Merkel met with Pakistani PM Gilani on the 
margins of the October 24-25 Asia Europe (ASEM) Summit in 
Beijing.  Steinmeier followed up with a one-day stop-over in 
Islamabad October 28.  Steinmeier's visit was added at the 
last minute to the front end of a long-planned trip to Saudi 
Arabia and the UAE.  In Islamabad, Steinmeier pressed both 
President Zadari and FM Qureshi to accept IMF assistance 
despite their reluctance over IMF conditionality.  He then 
spent the bulk of his time in Riyadh and Abu Dhabi 
sensitizing the Saudis and Emiratis to the scale and urgency 
of the economic problems in Pakistan and seeking their direct 
financial assistance. 
 
GERMAN VIEWS ON FRIENDS GROUP 
 
3. (SBU) Post delivered reftel talking points regarding the 
November 17 Friends of Pakistan meeting in Abu Dhabi to MFA 
South Asia Office Director Gudrun Sraega on November 11 and 
followed up with her on November 14.  Sraega confirmed that 
MFA Director General for Asia Policy Hans Henning 
Blomeyer-Bartenstein would represent Germany at the meeting. 
She said Germany supported creation of the four suggested 
working groups, but agreed that the Friends Group should not 
become a forum for Pakistan to present wish lists.  Ideally, 
the Group would help Pakistan create the necessary political 
and legal framework to facilitate the receipt and use of 
development assistance. 
 
4. (SBU) Sraega noted that that there were contradictory 
reports about whether Pakistan had or was about to approach 
the IMF for assistance.  She said that like the U.S., Germany 
would continue to press Pakistani authorities to accept IMF 
assistance.  Regarding a Frontier Fund, she indicated that 
Germany would need more information, especially about who 
would provide the money for it, before signing on to the 
idea.  Sraega strongly supported a UN role in the Friends 
Group as well as the involvement of Jean Arnault, but again 
wondered where the financing would come from -- from the UN 
or the Friends Group itself? 
 
GERMAN DEVELOPMENT ASSISTANCE TO BE DOUBLED 
 
5. (SBU) Regarding bilateral support for Pakistan, she noted 
that a Pakistani delegation had just been in Berlin November 
10-11 to hold negotiations with the German Ministry of 
Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) on the 2007-08 
development assistance package for Pakistan.  Negotiations on 
the assistance package had been suspended in early 2007 
following former President Musharaff's crackdown on domestic 
opposition groups.  Sraega emphasized, however, that while 
government-to-government talks on development assistance had 
been suspended, Germany had never stopped funding ongoing 
projects in Pakistan.  Sraega had not yet received a full 
read-out of the November 10-11 negotiations, but said BMZ had 
already committed to double in 2007-08 the 44 million Euros 
of development assistance provided in the 2005-06 agreement 
 
(see ref B for further information on the aid provided under 
the 2005-06 agreement).  She said the BMZ planned to channel 
more aid to the border areas and would continue to focus on 
projects in the health, basic education and renewable energy 
sectors. 
 
6. (SBU) Sraega reported that in addition to the BMZ 
development assistance, Germany was providing some 20-25 
million Euros to Pakistan for 21 projects under the G8 
Pakistan-Afghanistan Initiative.  Finally, she noted that 
Pakistan also received humanitarian assistance and support 
for conflict resolution and democratization from the MFA, as 
well as police training from the Ministry of Interior. 
TIMKEN JR