Time to reset relationship with Canada, Pakistani diplomat says
For more than a decade, Canada’s military role in Afghanistan defined its relationship with neighbouring Pakistan. Now Pakistan is eager to re-establish a “full-spectrum relationship” with Canada, the country’s acting high commissioner said Friday.
During a meeting with the Citizen’s editorial board, Abrar Hashmi said the Canada-Pakistan relationship “has been seen mostly through the prism of Afghanistan, and a narrow security spectrum” in recent years.
“What we want from our partners and friends in the international community is to look at Pakistan full-spectrum, (to have) a comprehensive, multi-faceted relationship,” Hashmi said.
Canada and Pakistan enjoyed such a relationship before the war in Afghanistan, he said. “We are now trying to revive that historic relationship.
“There are a lot of opportunities. Now that Canada is out from an active combat role in Afghanistan ... we have to bring this relationship to full strength. There’s a huge potential of co-operation.”
Pakistan is looking for parliamentary exchanges, enhanced economic and commercial links, deeper cultural ties to the 300,000-strong Pakistani-Canadian community and more co-operation on such things as immigration and defence, Hashmi said.
In particular, there are three areas in which Canada has knowledge it can share with Pakistan, he said: mining, education and energy.
Pakistan, with a population of 200 million, is grappling with an energy crisis, Hashmi said. By contrast, Canada has an energy surplus and expertise in generating hydroelectric and nuclear power.
“We can again collaborate, especially in hydro,” Hashmi said, adding that Pakistan hopes to develop small-scale hydro projects to bring electricity to villages and small towns.
During the Afghan war, Canadian troops often faced attack from Taliban fighters based in Pakistan’s northern tribal regions.
Since June, Pakistan has been conducting military operations in those regions “to flush out miscreants and terrorists,” Hashmi said. In Swat and other tribal areas, “these people now have no place to hide in Pakistan.”
He called the operations “a defining milestone in Pakistan’s clear and unequivocal rejection of the terrorist agenda. We believe it is a final frontier for Pakistan to defeat terrorism.”
Though Pakistan has been “a very favoured scapegoat” for mayhem caused by terrorists internationally, Hashmi said, his country has suffered heavy losses, with almost 38,000 civilians killed in terrorist attacks and a further 5,000 security personnel lost in fights with extremists.
Terrorist attacks in Pakistan peaked in 2008, he said, and the number has been declining ever since.
“But it’s a long fight. Pakistan’s political leaders and security forces are committed to defeating them.”
Hashmi said Pakistan fully supports Canada’s military involvement in the fight against ISIL in Iraq.
The threat posed by ISIL and other terrorist groups “cannot be addressed by regional countries alone or one particular country,” he said. “It’s a huge challenge which we are all confronting.”
Pakistan is also struggling to cope with a huge population between 15 and 35 years of age, a demographic group that is often susceptible to extremist ideas.
“Our partners can help us with skills and employability of this huge youth bulge,” Hashmi said, adding that it’s vital to “convert this into an asset” for economic development.