Pakistan has expressed an interest in acquiring military equipment, including unmanned surveillance aircraft, from Australia to patrol its restive tribal regions bordering Afghanistan.The request for military gear was made during a visit in Islamabad by Australian Defence Force chief Air Chief Marshal Angus Houston, who was also asked to provide a range of security equipment used by the Australian security and immigration officials.Pakistan also made a request to Houston for training its security personnel in counter-terrorism techniques, Australia's The Age newspaper reported.Houston said Pakistani armed forces officers were particularly keen to obtain the Scan Eagle pilotless reconnaissance aircraft built in Australia by Boeing.The tiny aircraft is fitted with cameras that can be used by night or day and has proven successful when used by Australian troops in Iraq and Afghanistan.Houston said that because Afghanistan is landlocked, Australia relies heavily on sea, air and land access through Pakistan for its troops and equipment deployed in that country."For a long time, they've been a very important partner in our endeavours in Afghanistan," he said.He said there could be great benefit in having Pakistan engaged with Australia's defence industries. "We think engagement with Pakistan is a vital part of getting the right outcomes in Afghanistan."Pakistan's tribal regions along its 2400-km border with Afghanistan have been described by the US as a safe haven for Taliban and Al Qaida elements.The colonial-era border cuts through the lands of the Pashtun, who have had thousands of years of experience in fighting foreign invaders. Houston said Pakistani authorities had to try to control a long border in rugged country with crossing points used constantly since colonial times. They had five army divisions along the frontier and had suffered heavy casualties fighting extremists there. But Pakistani military officers dismissed assumptions among Western commentators that they could easily defeat the Taliban and told The Age that NATO and its allies must negotiate with moderate Taliban elements if there was to be any hope of peace. The officers said they were convinced there could not be a military solution in Afghanistan. "There has to be a mix of solutions and a lot of work has to be done on the political system and on economic development," one officer said.
