EXCHANGE of two high level visits to and from the region in a fortnight is reflective of Pakistan’s strong desire to strengthen relations with the Central Asian States with focus on trade and connectivity. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, accompanied by a high level delegation, paid a highly successful visit to Tajikistan while President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev is scheduled to be in Islamabad on July 12 at the invitation of the PM for wide-ranging talks with Pakistani leadership. The renewed push to bolster bilateral ties with these countries comes in the backdrop of repeated goodwill gestures towards Pakistan both by President Emomali Rahmon of Tajikistan and the President of Azerbaijan, who have been showing personal interest to clear impediments in the way of forging closer ties in all spheres of life to the mutual advantage.
It is important to note that during the visit of the Prime Minister, Pakistan and Tajikistan signed several agreements and Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs) including the one relating to strategic partnership which would surely go a long way in realizing the dream of promoting an all-encompassing relationship between the two countries. Reciprocating the sentiments of the Tajik President, Prime Minister Shehbaz assured Emomali Rahmon that he would work closely with him to further cement the brotherly ties not only in fields of agriculture, education, health and investment but also in expansion of bilateral trade. In line with Pakistan’s increased focus on trade, investment and connectivity, the Prime Minister emphasized that both countries need to collaborate closely and set targets for increasing bilateral trade and investment. He cited the transportation of goods from the port of Karachi to Tajikistan via Afghanistan and proposed a rail-road connectivity project for goods from Dushanbe to Karachi port through Afghanistan. The PM also expressed Pakistan’s keen desire to be part of China, Tajikistan and Afghanistan trade corridor project, adding ‘it would be another opportunity to broaden the multilateral trade’ in the region. We have been hearing for a long about regional connectivity projects like TAPI and CASA-1000 and it is heartening to hear that the latter is going to be accomplished next year. Ever since the Central Asian Republics became sovereign countries, Pakistan desired to have meaningful political, economic and cultural ties with the region but long-drawn conflict in Afghanistan was the main hurdle in the way of realization of this objective.
It is an undeniable reality that successful operation of different corridors and connectivity projects depended heavily on peace and security in Afghanistan and that is why Pakistan has also been in close contact with Central Asian states in the search for a durable solution to the issue of terrorism and extremism. The Prime Minister offered cooperation to Tajikistan in this regard and said the two countries could fight this menace collectively wherever it existed and in any shape. The leadership of the two countries discussed the entire range of bilateral cooperation including trade and economy, investment, connectivity, culture, education, science & technology, defence, humanitarian assistance, parliamentary exchanges, and people-to-people contacts. In a major development, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif announced that the two countries have decided to exempt official passports from visa requirements but this is not enough. They need to agree upon measures to facilitate trade and investment promotion and for this purpose, among other things, Pakistan should focus on infrastructure projects in Gwadar as internal and external linkages are vital to make it a hub for regional trade and investment. Experts also point out that Tajikistan and Pakistan can develop and strengthen their cooperation in agriculture and industry because both countries have comprehensive and good agricultural and industrial resources. We hope that relevant ministries and departments of Pakistan and Tajikistan would initiate practical programmes, plans and projects to give concrete shape to the vision of the leadership for strong bilateral ties.
