Islamabad:
Pakistan and Kazakhstan signed on Tuesday a “cooperation action plan” aimed at giving new impetus to their bilateral relations, while the two countries were preparing for the visit of President Kazakh Kassym-Jomart Tokayev in Islamabad later this year.
The action plan, signed following talks at the delegation between the Deputy Prime Minister and the Minister of Foreign Affairs Ishaq Dar and his counterpart Kazakh, Murat Nurtleu, releases a structured roadmap to extend the commitment in several areas, read a declaration published here by the Foreign Affairs.
It provides closer cooperation in politics, trade and economics, defense and security, science and technology, culture, tourism, humanitarian assistance and consular facilitation. He also institutes regular consultations between the two foreign ministries.
The officials described the plan as an “important step” reflecting the political will of the two leaders to raise relations with “a new level of dynamism, anchored in mutual trust, shared values and a prospective vision of regional peace and prosperity”.
Kazakh Minister for Foreign Affairs, who is also assistant to his country, arrived in Islamabad on Monday during an official two -day visit. It was accompanied by ministers of transport and trade, the vice-ministers of IT and agriculture, as well as other senior officials.
During talks at the level of the delegation, the two parties reviewed the entire spectrum of bilateral relations, with a particular emphasis on the improvement of trade flows and investment, the expansion of agricultural cooperation and collaboration in terms of information, education, culture and tourism technology.
The strengthening of regional connectivity by logistics and transport links also appeared in good place in the discussions, according to the press release from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The two delegations have also exchanged views of multilateral cooperation and regional developments.
At the end of the official talks, the two ministers vice-premiers asked their respective teams to fall back on negotiations on agreements and understanding of understanding (MOUS) which should be finalized in time for the next visit of the president of Kazakhstan.
The visit is a prelude to President Tokayev’s trip to Pakistan in November, the first by a Kazakh head of state in more than two decades. The last visit of this type took place in 2003, when President Nursultan Nazarbayev arrived here.
The commitments of the Kazakh delegation in Islamabad went beyond the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Foreign Minister Nurtleu called Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif. He also organized separate meetings with the Pakistani ministers of communications, railways and trade paths.
According to an official hand, Shehbaz told the Minister of Foreign Affairs Kazakh that Pakistan wanted to improve bilateral trade, investment, exchanges of people and connectivity by air, rail and road with Kazakhstan. Shehbaz also responded to his warm wishes for President Tokayev.
The Prime Minister said Pakistan attached great importance to the visit of President Kazakh and proposed to send a delegation to Astana to finalize the various memoranda and agreements.
Nurtleu informed the Prime Minister of his detailed discussions with Dar Vice-Prime Minister soon during the day. He stressed that the next visit of President Tokayev to Islamabad would be historic and successful, and would open a new exciting chapter in Pakistani-Kazakhstan ties.
Meanwhile, the Kazakh delegation also participated in meetings of joint working groups on information technology (IT) and agriculture. The visiting team visited the National Aerospace Science & Technology Park (NASTP) to explore the cooperation routes in the IT sector.
Deputy Prime Minister Nurtleu also held a business meeting with the main Pakistani conglomerates, signaling Astana’s interest in seizing opportunities on the Pakistani market and providing reciprocal access to Central Asia.
The visit and signing of the action plan mark a renewed thrust of the two countries to deepen the links at a time when Pakistan seeks to extend its footprint to Central Asia as part of its “central vision” policy. For Kazakhstan, awareness raising offers a chance to strengthen stronger connectivity to South Asia and beyond.
(With application input)
