KARACHI: Canada wants Pakistan to help build Afghanistan
By Our Reporter
KARACHI, May 18: The Canadian High Commissioner in Pakistan, Mr David B. Collins, believes that the security across Pakistan-Afghanistan border is critical for lasting peace and stability in Afghanistan.
Islamabad and Kabul should work closely for strengthening the security and identifying the elements which could exploit the close ties maintained by the people in the border region to facilitate their own movement across the border with violent intent.
Mr Collins was speaking on “Canada’s security and development efforts in Afghanistan: The significance for Pakistan at the English-speaking union” here on Thursday.
The high commissioner, whose country has deployed more than 14,000 troops in Afghanistan as part of the UN-supported International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), appreciated Pakistan’s ‘crucial role’ in the international campaign against terrorism and Gen Pervez Musharraf’s efforts in this regard. But at the same time, he made it clear that “we all need to do more to assuage extremists and provide new hope next door.”
Because of the significant ethnic and tribal loyalties which span the border, the security and development of Afghanistan and Pakistan were inexorably linked. If Pakistan is to become an important energy and trade corridor for Central Asia and beyond, the stability of Afghanistan becomes a crucial factor to achieve this. Peace in Afghanistan and calm in the border areas are essential and beneficial to everyone. Mr Collins recalled the meeting between Canadian and Pakistani prime ministers during which the issue of security and the war against terrorism was discussed and Pakistan’s role as key contributor in this regard was recognised.
The high commissioner was evasive of the Afghan foreign minister’s assertion that Pakistan was not doing enough to deal with the terrorism. “It is natural that Afghans under pressure often express that more should be done in this regard,” Mr Collins said. He also referred to the remarks made at high level from both the sides recently in this context. He also avoided comment on the state of democratic dispensation in Pakistan, though he emphasized on a “stable, secure, democratic and prosperous Afghanistan.”
He said that Canada looked for Pakistan’s help, focussing on Canada’s efforts in southern Afghanistan.
Pakistan, he said, also had a tremendous opportunity in the development of a strong, stable and independent Afghanistan, as Pakistan strived for becoming the economic hub for the region.
The security of Pakistan’s natural trading partners becomes paramount. Canada, he said, was working with Pakistan and Afghanistan to meet challenges of ensuring security and stability in Afghanistan. “A stable Pakistan can contribute to a stable Afghanistan,” he remarked.
Mr Collins was of the view that success in the campaign against terrorism could not be ensured by military means alone. Long term success required a commitment to support development and improved governance. He pointed out that Afghanistan was now Canada’s largest recipient of development assistance.
The success of a long term plan for the resettlement of refugees depended on a stable Afghanistan because they hope that they would be able to feed and educate their families after returning home.
“People in Karachi and rest of Pakistan will continue to experience the negative effects of the drug trade until the sources of these drugs were controlled and the poppy cultivation eradicated,” he said.
When asked whether his country, having all the modern intelligence networks and gadgets at its disposal, knew about the whereabouts of Osama Bin Laden, Mr Collins expressed his ignorance, but said the Bin Laden had become a sort of ‘mythological figure’ supporting the evil. But the network of his Al Qaeda continued to pose a threat to the war on terrorism, he added.
