Liberal Leader Stéphane Dion scrambled Thursday to clarify reports that he suggested sending NATO troops to Pakistan, saying instead he was in favour of "diplomatic intervention" to bring peace to the troubled region.

Dion said this week that the mission in Afghanistan would never be able to bring about peace while Taliban militants were seeping across the border from neighbouring Pakistan.

Dion told CBC Thursday that diplomacy, not troops, must be used to curb the flow of militants over the Pakistan-Afghanistan border.
(CBC)

"If [Pakistani leaders] are incapable of doing it themselves, it is something that we could envision with NATO forces — how to help Pakistan help us bring peace to Afghanistan," he said during a news conference in Quebec City Wednesday.

But in an interview with the CBC's Peter Mansbridge Thursday night, Dion backed away from the suggestion that NATO forces be deployed to Pakistan, emphasizing instead a need for greater diplomatic effort.

"It was diplomatic intervention with an effort that must be more concerted between Canada and our NATO allies," Dion said.

"Part of what we are doing in the south of Afghanistan, in the province of Kandahar, is nullified by the fact that the insurgents, they cross the border. They ignore the border, and when we provide security in that area, they may come back any time from Pakistan."

Mansbridge said diplomatic efforts have done little to curb the flow of militants from Pakistan, and asked the Liberal leader what he suggested as a better solution. 

"Well, I have no other solution than to say that we need to be very assertive in our diplomatic effort and pressure on Pakistan."

When asked what being assertive meant, Dion replied: "I have no magic solution to offer on that and nobody has."

Pakistan calls Dion's comments 'irrational'

For its part, the Pakistani government delivered a fiery reaction to Dion's Wednesday comment, calling the suggestion "irrational." 

"We are dismayed by the statement of the leader of Opposition," the government said in a statement released late Thursday by the Pakistan High Commission in Ottawa.

"It shows a lack of understanding of the ground realities."

Pakistan would under no circumstances allow foreign troops to operate within its territory, the statement said, and is fully capable of handling its own security matters. The South Asian country said it has been recognized worldwide for its contributions to the Afghan mission.

"The price paid by Pakistan being a frontline state cannot be undermined by certain irrational comments."

Prime Minister Stephen Harper also criticized Dion's comments during a news conference in Saskatchewan Thursday, characterizing the Liberal leader's words as suggesting that "Canada abandon Afghanistan and invade Pakistan."

Dion made the controversial NATO remark only a few days after returning from a trip to Afghanistan, during which he reasserted his position that Canada should consider non-combat roles for its troops in Afghanistan once the current mandate expires in 2009.

Liberal MP Denis Coderre also attended the news conference in Quebec City Wednesday and was quick to add to Dion's remark, saying any solution in Pakistan would not be a military one.

"It would not come about with a military intervention, it would be a diplomatic solution," Coderre said.

With files from the Canadian Press