fatman17
PDF THINK TANK: CONSULTANT
- Joined
- Apr 24, 2007
- Messages
- 32,563
- Reaction score
- 98
- Country
- Location
Canada eyes arms sales to Pakistan
FAISAL MAHMOOD/REUTERS
MacKay talks of lifting embargo on military gear as war on Taliban overshadows nuclear misdeeds
May 20, 2009 04:30 AM
Rick Westhead
South Asia bureau
ISLAMABADCanada is considering ending its 11-year embargo on the sale of military technology to a nuclear-armed Pakistan, Defence Minister Peter MacKay says.
The development comes as Pakistan's army prepares to take its fight against Taliban militants into the tribal region bordering Afghanistan.
In a telephone interview from Islamabad, MacKay, who this week called Pakistan the "most dangerous country in the world," said he's impressed with Pakistan's resolve in taking on the Taliban.
"Doing military business in the future, and trade in particular, is something that is under consideration," MacKay said after meeting with Pakistani President Asif Zardari.
However, he added, "We're not there yet."
Canada cut off military supplies to Pakistan in 1998 after it conducted a nuclear weapons test in response to one carried out by neighbouring India.
Concern over Pakistan's illegal and surreptitious move into the nuclear arms club was underlined by news that one of its leading physicists, A.Q. Khan, had sold nuclear secrets in the 1990s to such countries as North Korea and Libya.
That contributed to the continuation of Canada's military embargo and prompted similar actions from other Western countries.
Kamran Bokhari, of the global intelligence firm Stratfor, says "Pakistan has used the situation in Swat (where it is battling the Taliban) skilfully. It has been saying, `If you want us to get the job done you have to give us the tools.' It makes perfect sense for Canada, with troops in Kandahar, to do what it takes."
But experts warn Pakistan continues to be a volatile country.
Its nuclear facilities are spread out in secret places around the country; its fight with the Taliban is forcing hundreds of thousands of civilians to flee the Swat Valley; the war in neighbouring Afghanistan is spilling over the border; and there remains uncertainty that Zardari is in full control, particularly over the country's nuclear arms. All these factors contribute to the sense of Pakistan's instability.
MacKay says Pakistan is doing its best to eradicate the Taliban.
"They are certainly a government that's taking control of this situation," MacKay told the Star. "Quite frankly, this is what the international community, including Canada, had been asking them to do all along."
Pakistan would like the chance to purchase Canadian products such as flight simulators, night-vision goggles and unmanned drones.
As Pakistani soldiers continued to pound Taliban fighters yesterday in towns in the Swat region, some 100 kilometres from the capital, MacKay said Canada would consider requests from Pakistan to buy Canadian military products.
"It would be hard to envision Canada (lifting the embargo) without getting the Americans to sign off on it," said Bokhari.
"The U.S. wants to keep up the pressure on Pakistan, but it doesn't want it to sink in the process. This way every side would get something."
Hilary Homes, a campaigner for Amnesty International in Canada, said the organization "has very serious concerns about the human rights situation in Pakistan, including the conduct of security forces, so we would be concerned about any transfer of military or security equipment of any kind."
One Western diplomat said if Canada decides to end its arms embargo with Pakistan "there's the concern over whether Canadian-made weapons could be used for human-rights abuses and there's the concern that they could end in the wrong hands."
While some American lawmakers accuse Zardari's government of corruption and ineffectiveness, the U.S. has pledged nearly $3 billion a year for anti-insurgency military aid over the next five years, on top of $1.5 billion in non-military aid.
Yesterday, the U.S. offered Pakistan $110 million to help the thousands of civilians driven from their homes by fighting.
The White House said $100 million would be for humanitarian aid such as food, tents, radios, generators and other items and that the U.S. Defence Department would give a further $10 million in unspecified assistance.
MacKay said Canada will restart a training program for Pakistani officers that was also shelved after Pakistan's 1998 nuclear test.
As many as 10 senior Pakistani officers a year would be eligible to attend the Canadian military's staff college or the Pearson Peacekeeping Centre in Cornwallis, N.S., or similar military courses.
"Isolation has not worked," MacKay said. "There was great interest to reconnect."
MacKay also said he urged Pakistan to be mindful of civilian casualties, which could "quickly turn the population against these operations.
" Let's be frank, there is an insidious nature in what the Taliban, and terrorists in other conflicts, have done in putting themselves in positions knowing full well civilians would be affected," he said.
With files from Olivia Ward
FAISAL MAHMOOD/REUTERS
MacKay talks of lifting embargo on military gear as war on Taliban overshadows nuclear misdeeds
May 20, 2009 04:30 AM
Rick Westhead
South Asia bureau
ISLAMABADCanada is considering ending its 11-year embargo on the sale of military technology to a nuclear-armed Pakistan, Defence Minister Peter MacKay says.
The development comes as Pakistan's army prepares to take its fight against Taliban militants into the tribal region bordering Afghanistan.
In a telephone interview from Islamabad, MacKay, who this week called Pakistan the "most dangerous country in the world," said he's impressed with Pakistan's resolve in taking on the Taliban.
"Doing military business in the future, and trade in particular, is something that is under consideration," MacKay said after meeting with Pakistani President Asif Zardari.
However, he added, "We're not there yet."
Canada cut off military supplies to Pakistan in 1998 after it conducted a nuclear weapons test in response to one carried out by neighbouring India.
Concern over Pakistan's illegal and surreptitious move into the nuclear arms club was underlined by news that one of its leading physicists, A.Q. Khan, had sold nuclear secrets in the 1990s to such countries as North Korea and Libya.
That contributed to the continuation of Canada's military embargo and prompted similar actions from other Western countries.
Kamran Bokhari, of the global intelligence firm Stratfor, says "Pakistan has used the situation in Swat (where it is battling the Taliban) skilfully. It has been saying, `If you want us to get the job done you have to give us the tools.' It makes perfect sense for Canada, with troops in Kandahar, to do what it takes."
But experts warn Pakistan continues to be a volatile country.
Its nuclear facilities are spread out in secret places around the country; its fight with the Taliban is forcing hundreds of thousands of civilians to flee the Swat Valley; the war in neighbouring Afghanistan is spilling over the border; and there remains uncertainty that Zardari is in full control, particularly over the country's nuclear arms. All these factors contribute to the sense of Pakistan's instability.
MacKay says Pakistan is doing its best to eradicate the Taliban.
"They are certainly a government that's taking control of this situation," MacKay told the Star. "Quite frankly, this is what the international community, including Canada, had been asking them to do all along."
Pakistan would like the chance to purchase Canadian products such as flight simulators, night-vision goggles and unmanned drones.
As Pakistani soldiers continued to pound Taliban fighters yesterday in towns in the Swat region, some 100 kilometres from the capital, MacKay said Canada would consider requests from Pakistan to buy Canadian military products.
"It would be hard to envision Canada (lifting the embargo) without getting the Americans to sign off on it," said Bokhari.
"The U.S. wants to keep up the pressure on Pakistan, but it doesn't want it to sink in the process. This way every side would get something."
Hilary Homes, a campaigner for Amnesty International in Canada, said the organization "has very serious concerns about the human rights situation in Pakistan, including the conduct of security forces, so we would be concerned about any transfer of military or security equipment of any kind."
One Western diplomat said if Canada decides to end its arms embargo with Pakistan "there's the concern over whether Canadian-made weapons could be used for human-rights abuses and there's the concern that they could end in the wrong hands."
While some American lawmakers accuse Zardari's government of corruption and ineffectiveness, the U.S. has pledged nearly $3 billion a year for anti-insurgency military aid over the next five years, on top of $1.5 billion in non-military aid.
Yesterday, the U.S. offered Pakistan $110 million to help the thousands of civilians driven from their homes by fighting.
The White House said $100 million would be for humanitarian aid such as food, tents, radios, generators and other items and that the U.S. Defence Department would give a further $10 million in unspecified assistance.
MacKay said Canada will restart a training program for Pakistani officers that was also shelved after Pakistan's 1998 nuclear test.
As many as 10 senior Pakistani officers a year would be eligible to attend the Canadian military's staff college or the Pearson Peacekeeping Centre in Cornwallis, N.S., or similar military courses.
"Isolation has not worked," MacKay said. "There was great interest to reconnect."
MacKay also said he urged Pakistan to be mindful of civilian casualties, which could "quickly turn the population against these operations.
" Let's be frank, there is an insidious nature in what the Taliban, and terrorists in other conflicts, have done in putting themselves in positions knowing full well civilians would be affected," he said.
With files from Olivia Ward
