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From Islamabad to Dushanbe & Astana

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Muhammad Zahid Rifat

Pakistan believes in having and maintaining cordial relations with all countries and in particular brotherly ties with the Islamic countries in accordance with the principles of the foreign policy as spelt out by the Quaidi-i-Azam. For sometime now, Pakistan has been endeavouring to promote and strengthen fraternal brotherly ties with all countries, particularly neighbouring countries and members of the Islamic Ummah.

Prime Minister Muhammd Shehbaz Sharif has been quite active in this regard and been visiting friendly countries every now and then to further strengthen and promote bilateral brotherly relations with the Islamic countries in particular and also for enhancing trade, investment and collaborations in different sectors to boost and streamline the national economy in a steady and appreciative manner, as such efforts on the part of the top leadership are direly needed.

The PM has recently paid a three-day visit to two Islamic countries one after the other. First he made a two-day visit to Dushanbe in Tajikistan, from where he and his delegation flew to Astana in Kazakhstan for one day.

The visit to Tajikistan was in furtherance of his commitment to improve cooperation with Tajikistan in different sectors to the maximum extent possible in the shortest possible time. PM Shehbaz and Tajik President Emomali Rahmon subsequently addressed a news conference together to announce the discussion between them.

The PM told the Tajik President  that  there was vast  potential  in Pakistan for foreign investment in energy, mining,industry,  agriculture and other sectors and emphatically stressed that Tajikistan should  explore these  opportunities on priority basis for mutual benefits .

On  his part, the Tajik President  duly underscored the existing very  and  brotherly cordial  relations  between the two countries.

Both the leaders also  discussed ways and means  for further strengthening  the cooperation  in various  fields and improving  regional connectivity and linkages between  their people.

The PM apprised the host President   about the continuosly deteriorating  human rights situation in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir and concerted efforts being made to change the demographic  structure of the occupied valley. They also expressed  their deep concern  over the ongoing situation in Gaza and  urged the international  community to redouble their efforts for ending  the violence which has already caused   killings of thousands of Palestinians including women and children.

Both  the leaders also witnessed signing of  several  agreements and Memorandum of Understanding (MoUs)  in Aviation, Diplomacy ,  Education, Sports, People to People Linkages, Industri  Cooperation, Tourism among others.

Hopefully,   these will materialise as soon as soon possible through concerted efforts in Islamabad and Dushanbe by all those responsible and concerned so that the fruits of these start reaching the people for their  mutual  benefits.

Relations between Pakistan and Tajikistan will also be further promoted and strengthened  mainly due to the personal efforts which  the PM was taking in boosting  Islamabad’s relations with more and more  foreign friendly countries and  attracting  maximum possible  foreign investment and collaborations  in different  sectors for mutual benefits. 

After  a two days visit to Tajikistan, the PM along with his delegation flew to Kazakhstan on  a one day visit to Astana to attend the 24th Summit  of the Council of the Heads of State  of the Shanghai  Cooperation Organization (SCO). Pakistan is a member of the SCO which was formed  in April 1996 as a strategic partner of the United Nations on the issue relating to political affairs, peace , besides China, Kazakhstan , Kyrgyzstan, Russia,   Uzbekistan, India, Iran, and Belarus being the latest addition  with Turkiye, Azerbaijan, Egypt, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, United Arab Emirates (UAE) among others as the dialogue partners.

Addressing the elite gathering, the PM availed the opportunity to  categorically reaffirm Pakistan’s commitment to SCO objectives of peace and prosperity, quite emphatically  urged the member states to pt their  collective efforts  against terrorism, poverty alleviation, dispute resolution  making a  pointed reference to the ongoing  Israeli barbarism in Palestine., firmly assured that his country  will continue working to strengthen SCO  as an active  and integrated regional form for achieving the common objectives  of peace and prosperity.

Terming terrorism as a major concern for the member states, PM Shehbaz Sharif  made a pointed  reference  to Pakistan and called for meaningful  engagement with the  Afghan Interim Government  from where  terrorists were 

targeting his country, attacking and killing innocent civilians, police and army personnel lately  quite frequently .

Highlighting Pakistan’s ideal strategic location, the PM made a pointed reference to China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) which was a flagship project of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) and it duly  supplemented the SCO visit of regional  connectivity and economic integration. 

Felicitating  Chinese President Xi Jinping on assuming the SCO chairmanship  for  2024-25, he expressed the confidence that under his visionary  leadership    the SCO  would continue to grow and prosper  adding  that Pakistan aligns itself  with the socio-economic objectives of the SCO.

In short, the PM’s   address to the gathering   encompassed  all major  regional and international  issues including   terrprism and extremism,  Islamophobia,  instability in neighbouring Afghanistan,  poverty,  climate change,  regional  connectivity and resolution of disputes.  

Besides the SCO Summit deliberations itself,  a lot of developments and activities also took place on the sidelines .    

The PM moved around fast and interacted with a number  of participating  leaders.  Most importantly, the PM managed to interact  with Russian President Vladimir Putin and discussed       with him for sometime  improving  Islamabad-Mosco bilateral  relations in a meaningful manner. He had done this without himself going  on a bilateral visit  or hosting the Russian President.  Pakistan’s relations with Russia  have two broad dimensions to say the least. It is something   which Pakistan’s  all weather, iron brother China also looked  upon favourably  and on the other hand it is something that worries India. PM Shehbaz Sharif  invited the Russian President to visit Pakistan at his convenience   at the earliest and also stressed on increased trade and revival of barter trade between the two countries.

The PM, addressing the Summit of SCO Plus Format assured the gathering Pakistan will be pursuing  anti-terrorm, multilateralism  goals   during  its upcoming two-year term as a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council.

The quite frequent bilateral visits  of the civil and military leadership quite obviously aimed at boosting  and strengthening existing cordial relations with friendly countries including those located in the Central Asia Region and exploring   trade, investment and collaborations  opportunities  and inviting   prospective   investors and businessmen from  these countries to Pakistan for exploring the vast investment and trade opportunities as collaborator  and partnerships .All this augurs well  for streamlining the somewhat  staggering national economy   and resultantly taking  maximum welfare measures and initiatives for the well-being of the people without any discrimination whatsoever.

The writer is Lahore-based Freelance Journalist, Columnist and retired Deputy  Controller (News), Radio Pakistan, Islamabad and can be reached at zahidriffat@gmail.com

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