Uzbekistan becomes Pakistan’s strategic partner: ambassador

ISLAMABAD Uzbekistan has become Pakistan’s strategic partner in the wake of enhanced multi-layered cooperation between the two brotherly countries and trade relations are bound to expand to a remarkable extent.

This was stated by Ambassador Uzbekistan Aybek Arif Usmanov while addressing a reception to host the 32nd Independence Day of his country where caretaker federal minister for commerce, industries and production Gohar Ijaz was the chief guest. The event coincided with the Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Syed Asim Muneer’s official visit to Uzbekistan.

Former Chairman Chief of General Staff Committee (CJCSC) General (Retd) Ehsanul Haq, former foreign secretary Sohail Mahmood, Pakistan’s special envoy for Afghanistan Asif Durrani, Dean of the Diplomatic Corps Ambassador Turkmenistan Ambassador Otajan Mavlamov, and Ambassador Nepal Tapas Adhikari were among the distinguished guests.

Ambassador Aybek Arif Usmanov expressed gratitude to the political and military leadership of the host country for their cooperation in strengthening connectivity between the two countries. He highlighted significant progress in the bilateral relationship, emphasizing the elevation of cooperation to a strategic partnership. The achievement, he noted, was a result of confident political dialogue, the strengthening of trade and industrial ties, technological projects, and active military cooperation between the armed forces of both the nations.

He said the 8th Joint Ministerial Commission held in Tashkent, took significant decisions for promoting ties. We are implementing new connectivity projects with the help of chambers of commerce and industrial associations in Islamabad and all provinces of Pakistan, the ambassador recalled. He praised the collaborative efforts between Pakistan and Uzbek officials, particularly federal minister and secretary Muhammad Saleh Ahmad Faruqui, for their relentless work in facilitating dynamic bilateral trade growth. He pointed out that in just the last two years, bilateral trade had increased by nearly half a billion dollars through transit and preferential trade agreements. The ambassador underlined the importance of the recently signed Trade and Industrial Cooperation Road Map, which aims to further boost trade, investment, and industrial collaboration. The ambassador expressed gratitude for the tireless efforts that had resulted in over a dozen high-level meetings and more than a hundred ministerial summits. These initiatives strengthened people-to-people contacts, business-to-business forums, and regional institutional connectivity. He highlighted the government of Uzbekistan’s focus on serving the people, ensuring political stability, promoting economic development, and enhancing social protection, he said.

Ambassador Usmanov expressed the hope for the continued growth of bilateral relations, especially in pharmaceutical production, energy, agriculture, IT, textiles, and logistics. The ambassador emphasized the significance of the Uzbekistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan railway construction project, which recently saw progress with the signing of a protocol on feasibility studies, financing, and construction.

The caretaker federal minister Gohar Ijaz, shared his experience of several visits to Uzbekistan and maintained that the important country of Central Asia has made tremendous progress ever since its independence.

During the Independence Day reception, Nepal’s Ambassador Tapas Adhikari was happy about the performance of his home cricket team in the Asia Cup. He was in Multan to watch the inaugural match and said that his team performed better against India than its performance against Pakistan.