Islamabad, November 12, 2025 — Ambassador of Kazakhstan to Pakistan H.E. Mr. Yerzhan Kistafin took part in the two-day international forum “#Margalla #Dialogue 2025”, and spoke at a session dedicated to regional security, connectivity, and economic cooperation.Margalla is the name of mountains around Islamabad and this title has been given to this dialogue by the organizer , a gov funded think tank of retired military officers .
The forum brought together leading diplomats, experts, and representatives of academic and business circles from Kazakhstan, Pakistan, the United States, China, Russia, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, Iran, the United Kingdom, Qatar, and Portugal.
Participants discussed key ways to strengthen regional stability, develop transport and logistics corridors, and expand trade and economic cooperation among Asian countries.
From the Kazakh side, Mr. Mukhit Assanbayev, Chief Expert of the Kazakhstan Institute for Strategic Studies under the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan, was invited and delivered a report on Kazakhstan’s role in enhancing regional economic security.
In his remarks, Ambassador Y.Kistafin outlined Kazakhstan’s strategic vision, emphasizing the instructions of President H. E. Mr. Kassym-Jomart Tokayev on the development of the country’s transit and transport potential.
In this context, Ambassador particularly emphasized the importance attached to cooperation with Pakistan, which can also contribute to strengthening links between Central and South Asia and serve as a bridge connecting Eurasia, Africa, Southeast Asia, and the Gulf countries.
As a fundamental condition, the Ambassador underlined the need to enhance regional security and, for this purpose, to establish direct interaction between law enforcement agencies aimed at developing collective and systemic measures to combat terrorism, extremism, radicalism, drug trafficking, illegal migration, and other related threats.
Former ambassador of Iran Mashallah Shakiri was also present in the dialogue. Pakistani potential as regional hub is sometimes brings some bitter realities to the scene. Fifteen years ago, while talking to Editor Tazeen Akhtar of Pakistan in the World, Mr. Shakiri said that lines for electricity and petrol were ready from Irani side upto the border. He said , now it was the decision of Pakistan when to start work on its side.
No one knows what Mr. Shakiri observed now at Margalla dialogue about this arrangement because the organizers lack the time to share the details of the delibrations to the press.
