ISLAMABAD, 15 March 2006 — Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper yesterday praised Pakistan’s role in fighting militants along the troubled border with Afghanistan, near where Canadian troops are also deployed.
“We value whatever assistance Pakistan can provide particularly in the shared frontier area because this is a vulnerability of Canadian forces,” he told a joint news conference with Pakistani Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz.
Canada has around 2,300 troops in Afghanistan’s insurgency-hit south bordering Pakistan. It has lost 10 soldiers and a senior diplomat in Afghanistan since 2001, with three of the deaths this year.
Harper, on a brief visit here after traveling to Afghanistan unannounced, said Aziz had assured him of Pakistan’s continuing commitment to combating militancy.
“Pakistan has been a very important ally ... particularly against those who want to destabilize the region along the frontier with Afghanistan,” he said.
Harper, accompanied by his Defense Minister Gordon O’Connor and chief of the Defense Staff, Gen. Rick Hillier, arrived on Sunday in Afghanistan where he pledged to maintain Canada’s military presence.
Canada commands an international force hunting down elements of the ousted Taleban regime and their Islamist allies, including Al-Qaeda’s terror network in Afghanistan.
Harper discussed with Aziz wide-ranging issues including ways to reinforce cooperation in economic, education, trade and investment fields.
Aziz invited Canada for negotiations on a free trade agreement (FTA).
“Pakistan is one of Canada’s important 25 partners in the developing world and we would like to boost our trade ties with the country,” Harper told reporters after the formal talks in Islamabad.
Harper said the talks focused on education, good governance, economic relations and regional security with reference to the ongoing Pakistan-India peace process.
“We hope that dialogue will continue between the two countries,” he said.
Pakistan and India resumed their peace talks, also known as the composite dialogue process, in February 2004 to resolve all outstanding issues including the Jammu and Kashmir dispute.
