Boost in ties with Kazakhstan

2026-02-05 - 23:06

BILATERAL relations between Pakistan and Kazakhstan surely received a big boost with the first visit of Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev in 23 years with Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif expressing the confidence that it will open “new avenues for shared prosperity”. As a result of the talks of the visiting dignitary with Pakistani leadership, the two sides agreed to elevate their relations to a strategic partnership, enhance bilateral trade to $1 billion, deepen regional connectivity and expand cooperation across economic, defence, energy and people-to-people domains. They also resolved to work closely to devise a roadmap to translate their political goodwill into concrete economic outcomes before Pakistan Prime Minister’s visit to Astana. The relationship between the two countries has been progressing well ever since Pakistan promptly recognized Kazakhstan after its independence in 1991. In fact they share centuries old historical ties and fraternal bonds and there has been political will on both sides to take their ties to new heights. Their unwavering adherence to the principles of sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity form the basis for the stable and reliable partnership between the two countries. It is satisfying to note growing understanding and partnership between the two countries in various fields – political, security, defence, trade, economy, agriculture, transportation, logistics, education, culture, sports and tourism as well as deepening of interaction between the two sides in regional and international arenas. It was in this backdrop that during the visit of President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, the leaders of the two countries reaffirmed their strong commitment to further diversify and enhance multidimensional bilateral cooperation and decided to establish strategic partnership for the mutual benefit of the two countries and nations with enhanced focus on political dialogue; security and defence; trade, economy and investment; transport and logistics; education, science and information technology; culture, media, sports and tourism; climate change and cooperation at regional and global levels. That the visit proved to be productive is evident from the fact that the two countries signed 23 Memoranda of Understanding (MoUs) for cooperation in different sectors. As normally MoUs take years to materialize, it is encouraging to note the emphasis that Pakistan Prime Minister has laid on converting them into agreements and start implementation on a fast track basis. The bilateral relations would certainly witness a sea-change if the relevant ministries and departments of the two countries ensure progress on all MoUs in a time bound manner. Most important is the determination of the leadership to increase the bilateral trade from the existing $239 million to one billion dollar in two years but this too is peanuts considering the fact that their economic cooperation potential stands at $14 billion. Of course, there are issues of connectivity but these can be overcome as the leadership has acknowledged the critical importance of well-developed, secure, sustainable and diversified connectivity routes between Kazakhstan and Pakistan for further expanding bilateral as well as regional trade and economic cooperation. The leaders expressed strong commitment to further promotion of the international multimodal transport corridors between Kazakhstan and Pakistan through “Kazakhstan-Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan”, “Kazakhstan-Uzbekistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan” as well as “Kazakhstan-Kyrgyzstan-China-Pakistan” routes. In a significant development, the two sides have agreed to intensify cooperation and exchange of experience and expertise in the field of IT and telecommunications to develop joint projects in areas such as е-government, e-commerce, financial technologies, e-infrastructure, artificial intelligence, e-services, space technology, digital solutions, etc. The two sides also agreed to explore cooperation in the cyber security domain. About one thousand Pakistani students are currently studying in educational institutions of Kazakhstan and now Pakistan has also offered educational opportunities to Kazakh students in its universities besides an understanding to allow universities of the two countries to open their campuses in each other’s country. Pakistan’s robust defence industrial base and training infrastructure also offers good opportunities for closer defence cooperation between the two countries. The visit of the Kazakh President has accelerated the pace of progress in bilateral relations and hopefully it will gather further momentum when PM Shehbaz visits the friendly country.