Canada considers lifting ban on military exports to Pakistan: reports

Canada is considering ending an 11-year-old ban on sales of military technology to Pakistan, reports said Wednesday.

Defence Minister Peter MacKay told the Globe and Mail newspaper he is "contemplating" lifting the ban, a move requested by Pakistan as it battles a growing Taliban presence in the country.

MacKay also told the Toronto Star newspaper he is impressed with the resolve shown by Pakistani leaders in taking on the organization.

"Doing military business in the future, and trade in particular, is something that is under consideration," he told the Star following meetings in Islamabad with his Pakistani counterpart and other government officials.

Pakistan is looking to buy Canadian products such as flight simulators, night-vision goggles and unmanned drones, said the report.

Canada halted sales of military supplies to Pakistan in 1998 after it carried out a nuclear weapons test. The test was a response to a similar exercise by its nuclear-armed neighbour, India.

Canada and Pakistan have also agreed to resume an officer-training program with Pakistan's military that has beensuspended for more than 10 years, said MacKay.

No confirmation

"It would be more like an officer-exchange program," he told The Canadian Press. "So, not so much in terms of us training their officers here, but at a staff college level where you would have seminars and lectures that could occur."

MacKay said he did not receive any confirmation of reports that Pakistan is expanding its nuclear arsenal, which is believed to contain more than 60 nuclear weapons.

MacKay added that he encouraged Pakistan to move away from nuclear proliferation.

Last week, MacKay said the instability in Pakistan makes it the most dangerous country in the world.

Pakistan has launched a major military offensive in the Taliban-controlled Swat Valley in the country's northwest.

Canadian officials have long expressed concern about Taliban and al-Qaeda-linked militant activity in northwestern Pakistan, along the border with neighbouring Afghanistan where more than 2,800 Canadian troops are deployed as part of a NATO mission.

The violence has driven hundreds of thousands of people from their homes.