On the elections, there are a couple of things I would say, Mr. Rae.
One is that I think we can take some satisfaction from the fact that registration unrolled more smoothly than many had anticipated. We had something like four million additional registrants, in addition to the 12 million who had registered previously. So while we're not taking our eye off the ball vis-à-vis the elections, which happen in August, I think there is a growing degree of confidence that the Afghan national security forces performed well.
We have contributed to the UN process in support of the elections. UNDP ELECT will be spending additional funds for voter education and citizen awareness to help build a sense of what elections are all about and the rights and responsibilities of people.
What happens after May 22, in terms of President Karzai's authority, is something that will be worked out politically by the Government of Afghanistan and the opposition parties. I think that's happening now. I can't predict what the outcome will be, but that's the appropriate course, and I think they are following the constitution.
On Pakistan and the regional dimension, I think there has been an increasing focus internationally, as we've seen. It's not an easy thing to manage in the absence of any regional institutions. What Canada has been doing over the last year is that we've been coordinating with our two missions and two heads of mission, working together on joint policy recommendations. For example, how can our support of programming in Baluchistan, which neighbours Kandahar, reinforce what we're doing in Kandahar? When ministers Day and Cannon were in Kabul last week, one of their meetings was with our ambassador to Afghanistan and our high commissioner to Pakistan, who reported to the ministers how we're working together.
We're continuing to encourage a resumption of what we call the Dubai process, which had border officials from both countries meeting together. That was suspended last year when Afghanistan suspended its direct relations with Pakistan. We're working at getting that back on track. So we're engaged on that file, as are others, and I think the increasing international focus on it is a good thing.