Foreign Affairs committee  We are, of course, part of the Commonwealth, but we're not on the evaluation mission, which is sent by the Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group. We were part of that action group for two consecutive terms. Now our membership term has ended and we're not part of that mission. Of

Foreign Affairs committee  I believe that's correct, yes.

Foreign Affairs committee  I'll leave it to the committee. I don't understand the procedural issues as deeply as you do. Chair, you, in your wisdom, will figure that out with your colleagues, but I can assure you we will, at the department, be watching this extremely closely. I can also add that my colle

Foreign Affairs committee  I must say, in my experience it always looks somewhat hopeless when a country is going through a transition. Forgive me for going off Pakistan for just a moment, but I spent a lot of time in Indonesia both before and after the great democratic change that occurred there. It look

Foreign Affairs committee  I can just say that whether they are speaking out of both sides of their mouth or not, we hold them to account to the goals that we have for that country. It's certainly within Canada's right, given our involvement in the region, to insist on a certain kind of behaviour and cert

Foreign Affairs committee  Thank you. Again, the question of the number of soldiers who are deployed in Pakistan to deal with the instability in the tribal regions is up for debate. The Pakistani authorities are the best sources of accurate numbers in that regard, and I don't want to guess or second-guess

Foreign Affairs committee  —I think what you're alluding to is essentially a phenomenon that President Musharraf perpetuated by wearing the uniform while he was still president. That was something that the minister, the Government of Canada, spoke out very strongly against. This disentanglement of the mili

Foreign Affairs committee  We're watching.

Foreign Affairs committee  I don't want to get drawn into the numbers game, because you can imagine how inaccurate census processes would be in such a situation. It's really hard to guess on the numbers. It is a mistake to equate the Pashtun people with the Taliban. Whereas the Taliban might well draw fr

Foreign Affairs committee  It's been discussed in the context of the regional economic development framework. That's the meeting you were referring to. It's on the agenda. It's seen as part of the economic package that is going to be required for the future of the region, but we haven't taken a position in

Foreign Affairs committee  Yes, I think that's a broad consensus among allies, that Pakistan is very important both in and of itself--Pakistan qua Pakistan--and for regional stability. Clearly they have some severe security challenges, as you've outlined. What we need to do is encourage them and support th

Foreign Affairs committee  Thank you. First of all, as to Mr. Khan's question about whether we should see Pakistan—

Foreign Affairs committee  I am very sorry about that.

Foreign Affairs committee  I see. I understand. Okay, thank you very much. These concerns that you have about Pakistan as a nuclear power, as a country that faces enormous challenges to its own internal stability, and the fact that we have significant diaspora interests in the sense that we have many Paki

Foreign Affairs committee  Thank you for those comments. On your questions, we're certainly looking at the issue of observers. I will defer to my minister to make his decisions on that and any announcements in that regard. What the mission will be doing is on a more informal basis, as you've alluded to.