The visiting Australian police officer, honouring the Pakistani policemen killed in terrorist incidents, donated $250,000 forensic analyser machine to National Forensic Science Agency (NFSA) on Friday.
National Security of Australian Federal Police (AFP) Deputy Commissioner Peter Drennin participated in a memorial ceremony in Islamabad to honour the Pakistani police officers killed in terrorist incidents.
Drennin also addressed a gathering of senior police officers, saying Australia recognised the challenges facing his Pakistani counterparts and was willing to cooperate with them to build police capacity through training and other assistance.
He said that as a foundation member of the ‘Friends of Democratic Pakistan group, Australia is committed to a closer and enhanced bilateral engagement with Pakistan.
He said the AFP was working to cultivate a strong partnership and cooperative working relationship with Pakistan’s law enforcement agencies, both at federal and provincial level and with relevant ministries to enhance cooperation to curb crime, including smuggling and terrorism.
The AFP is also developing strategies to enhance the forensic capacity of Pakistani agencies through a series of training courses for Pakistani forensic scientists to be held in Australia commencing next month and continuing until 2013.
As a practical sign of support, Drennin inaugurated a new genetic analyser machine valued at $250,000 which has been provided to Pakistan National Forensic Science Agency, Islamabad, to enhance their forensic capacity. Specialised training will also be provided to officers of the agency in the coming months as part of a forensic biology/DNA course in Australia.
“This is the first of many activities that we envisage will boost positive and collaborative relationships between our nations’ forensic agencies,” said Drennin who is in Pakistan to participate in the 2nd Australia-Pakistan 1.5 Track Security Dialogue.
