Islamabad & Tashkent working to strengthen 500-year old ties.
President of Uzbekistan H.E.Shavkat Mirziyoyev visit to Pakistan
Written by: Bilawal Abbas Bangash (SCOLAR Karachi Hub)
The Central Asian region has remained the centre of attention, be it in economic terms, cultural terms, or geopolitical terms. The foremost reason behind this centric attention is nothing but the route of the Great Silk Road. Due to this historic route, the region became a hub of innovation, crafts, excellence, cuisine, arts, norms and values, ideologies, and cultural exchanges. Whenever one talks about the greatness of the Central Asia Republics and their significance, the exceptional history of Uzbekistan and most importantly the multicultural architecture of Tashkent, Bukhara, Khiva, and Samarkand has its values and importance.
It means that Uzbekistan demonstrates the varied nature and ancient historical heritage. In the last few years, the unfolding geoeconomics and geopolitical trends have made regional countries look towards each other for a shared future. Like other Central Asian Republics, the cooperation between Pakistan and Uzbekistan has been historical and phenomenal. Amid this, the relationship between Pakistan and Uzbekistan has grown in the last few years. These emerging ties and as well as in historical perspectives, the bonds between both the countries are historical, cultural, and more importantly religious.
In this regard, the recent visit of the President of Uzbekistan, H.E.Shavkat Mirziyoyev, to Pakistan is an outcome of the growing friendship and strengthening bilateral ties in various dimensions. They include trade, research and development, investment, economic cooperation, industrial development, cooperation in the area of science and agriculture, and most importantly regional integration. Though both the countries have been collaborating in various regional and international organizations like SCO, OIC, the UN, ECO, bilateral engagements between both the countries have their own dynamics and significance.
The first step between both countries was the commencement of direct flight operation from Tashkent to Lahore and vice versa. According to some estimations, around 12,000 people travelled and still, they are benefitting from this direct flight operation. Similarly, trade turnover became an all-time high when both the countries signed a deal of around $100 million in 2018–2019 for economic cooperation. Following it, more than 150 Pakistan-based companies visited Uzbekistan to find out new ways of cooperation and economic engagement. As an outcome of these engagements, Pakistan supported Uzbekistan for accession to the Quadrilateral Traffic in Transit Agreement (QTTA) to utilize Karachi and Gwadar for their trade and economic purpose. The other four countries in the QTTA include China, Pakistan, Kazakhstan, and Kyrgyzstan.
In terms of religious perspective, Uzbekistan is considered the land of Islamic thinkers and spiritual scholars such Al-Beruni, Al-Khwarizmi, At-Termizie, Bahouddin Naqshbandi, Al-Bukhari and others. Likewise, the historical places like Termez, Namangan, Kokand, Bukhara, Samarkand, and Khiva have been great places for religious tourism where thousands of Pakistanis travelled only to visit these ancient places. In this regard, Pakistan can also invite the people of Uzbekistan to visit religious and historical places of Pakistan which would benefit Pakistan, especially in terms of boosting religious tourism.
Moreover, both countries can integrate a long-term model of cooperation with some long-term objectives that should be relevant with the core areas like the Educational/Academia sector, Trade and commerce sector, and bilateral tourism sector. In this regard, there should be strong diplomatic and economic links between both countries which help to chalk out new ways for enhancing cooperation. Likewise, strong and sincere efforts are needed to curtail the language barrier between both countries so that people do not face linguistic issues. Following it, there should be more and more training and awareness programs in order to boost networks and research projects. Finally, both countries should introduce ways for opening banks, especially Pakistani banks in Uzbekistan in order to have a smooth transaction and financial flow.
To conclude, one can say that Pakistan and Uzbekistan are turning history by creating new ways of cooperation and engagements. The recent visit by the President of Uzbekistan to Pakistan is tantamount to enhanced bilateral relations and high-level cooperation in various dimensions. Amid changing regional and global geopolitical realities, ties between Tashkent and Islamabad are necessary for regional integration, regional peace and security, and regional connectivity. As it will benefit not only the region but also this collaboration can pave way for other countries to join hands to play their due part for the regional development. Therefore, the recent visit of the President of Uzbekistan is not just a visit rather it is a new chapter for the shared future.
Written By:
Bilawal Abbas Bangash
Team Lead, Research & Publications — SCOLAR Karach Hub
