Tashkent and Islamabad establish Strategic Partnership Council
The leaders of Uzbekistan and Pakistan, Shavkat Mirziyoyev and Shahbaz Sharif, at talks in Tashkent on February 26, confirmed the course towards expanding the strategic partnership. A Forum of Regions will be held for the active development of business and trade relations. Special attention was paid to issues of transport connectivity and expansion of transit potential, including the use of the Pakistani port of Karachi. The implementation of these ambitious plans, the key element of which will be the construction of the Trans-Afghan Railway, is designed to connect Central and South Asia, providing a powerful impetus to the economic growth of the entire region.
Pakistan is expanding regional cooperation. Yesterday, Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif visited Azerbaijan, where he held talks with President Ilham Aliyev and took part in a business forum of entrepreneurs of the two countries. Following his visit to Baku on February 23-25, 2025, a package of investment agreements worth more than $2 billion was agreed. The signing of this document will take place in Islamabad during the upcoming visit of the Azerbaijani leader, the date of which is still being specified. Pakistan and Azerbaijan have agreed to work together in the defense and pharmaceutical industries.
Pakistan has been cooperating with Uzbekistan for a long time and meets frequently. President Shavkat Mirziyoyev visited Pakistan on March 3-4, 2022. Shahbaz Sharif also came to Tashkent in 2022. During the current visit, Shavkat Mirziyoyev and Shahbaz Sharif discussed areas for expanding strategic partnership, the press service of the President of Uzbekistan reported. Last year, the trade turnover between the two countries reached $ 404.5 million, approaching the goals set by the heads of the two states to bring this figure to $500 million in the near future. The leaders set a goal to increase the volume of mutual trade to $2 billion. in accordance with the adopted roadmap.
Experts say these plans are quite realistic, as exports from Uzbekistan to Pakistan have increased 1.5 times over the past year, reaching $299.5 million. Pakistan has become the fifth largest market for Uzbek fruit and vegetable products (124.7 thousand tons for $192.3 million). The volume of cargo transportation through the Uzbekistan–Afghanistan–Pakistan corridor has increased 5 times. A Forum of the regions of Uzbekistan and Pakistan will be held on the initiative of the Uzbek President.
Today, there are 130 joint ventures in Uzbekistan with the participation of Pakistani capital. The volume of road cargo transportation increased almost 6.5 times, reaching 354 thousand tons in 2023. Investment projects have been implemented in the regions of the republic in partnership with large Pakistani companies in the Syrdarya, Tashkent, Namangan regions and the city of Tashkent.
The UzbekPak International Trading Center International Trading House has been established to promote trade relations. This center is becoming a platform where the achievements of Uzbekistan’s industry, including textile products, agriculture and food products, will be demonstrated. The exhibitions Made in Pakistan and Made in Uzbekistan also expand the scope of trade and cultural cooperation. For example, following the results of the business forum held in June 2024, which included the Made in Pakistan exhibition and the transport and logistics forum, contracts worth more than 180 million dollars were signed. In early February of this year, the National Exhibition of Industrial Products Made in Uzbekistan was held in Lahore.
An intergovernmental commission is working, 10 meetings have already been held, accompanied by a business forum and meetings in the B2B/G2B format, where the investment potential of Uzbekistan is presented. The next meeting of the Intergovernmental Commission will be held in Lahore in July. Pakistan’s interest mainly comes down to cooperation in the textile, construction, leather, food industries, as well as in logistics and transport.
The countries’ focus is on the Trans–Afghan Railway project, which will connect Central and South Asia, providing Uzbekistan with access to Pakistan’s ports. The 760 km Termez–Mazar–I–Sharif–Kabul-Peshawar route is estimated to cost $4.8 billion. The construction will take at least 5 years, and the delivery time from Uzbekistan to Pakistan will be reduced from 35 to 3-5 days. Russia is also interested in the implementation and subsequent operation of the road (see NG dated 22.02.24). President Shavkat Mirziyoyev discussed this possibility with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
“The economic and political importance of cooperation with Islamabad for Tashkent has grown significantly in recent years. The reason for this is the strengthened trade and economic ties, as well as the fact that the Uzbek authorities are purposefully striving to solve the difficult task of developing transport and logistics routes in the southern direction,” Alexander Vorobyov, head of the Center for Public Diplomacy and World Policy Analysis, researcher at the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences, told NG.
According to him, Pakistan, with a large domestic market, is beginning to play an increasingly important role in the export of Uzbek products – food, agricultural and not only. It is also important that Uzbekistan has a positive foreign trade balance with Pakistan, that is, further expansion of exports to Pakistan, which the Uzbek leadership is actively working on both during the negotiations at the highest level and during the business forum, will bring even more benefits to Uzbek producers and, ultimately, the treasury.
Of course, the trans-Afghan railway project is also important for both countries, the expert stressed. “However, despite great progress in this direction, its implementation is still fraught with great political risks. Moreover, in recent months, the split between more moderate and more radical factions has deepened within the Afghan leadership,” Vorobyov said.