Institute of Strategic Studies Islamabad ISSI and Embassy of the Republic of Kazakhstan jointly hosted a Conference on “Pakistan–Kazakhstan Relations: Post-Visit Reflections and Pathways for Strategic Cooperation”
12 February 2026
TAZEEN AKHTAR
President of the Republic of New Kazakhstan , Kassym Jomart Tokayev visited Pakistan on 03-04 Feb 2026 to give bilateral cooperation a new momentum that was awaited for long. It was his as well as the first ever visit of any President of Kazakhstan in last 23 years, that made this visit a milestone in the transofrmation of cordia political relations into meaningful economic cooperation. The sides inked agreements and agreed a target of trade at $01 Billion that stands at $106 Billion at present and it is discussed to be taken 10 times higher in next few years.
Target looks ambitious if we see the lack of transport and logistics infrastructure. Banking and financial facilities are equally important while expecting the business community to play its role in upgrading the bilateral trade level. Therefore, It is as imperitive to follow up the visit and implement the agreements reached as the visit itself was significant for both sides. For that, the decision makers in Islamabad and Astana are supposed to keep tracking the development achieved and continue pushing the accomplishment of the decisions taken during the summit of two states.
The Institute of Strategic Studies Islamabad (ISSI) and the Embassy of the Republic of Kazakhstan, for the same purpose, hosted a conference titled “Pakistan–Kazakhstan Relations: Post-Visit Reflections and Pathways for Strategic Cooperation” at Movenpick Hotel, Islamabad.
From gov of Pakistan side, the participation consisted of Mr. Fahad Haroon, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Digital Media, Coordinator to PM on tourism Mr. Yasir Ilyas, Director General Central Asia Desk Ambassador Hassan Ali Zaigham.
Diplomats, scholars, and practitioners from Pakistan and Kazakhstan also took part for an in-depth exchange of views on bilateral relations, regional connectivity, and strategic cooperation, highlighting pathways for sustained partnership and mutual growth.
Ambassador Khalid Mahmood, Chairman, Board of Governors, ISSI, in his welcome remarks, highlighted that Pakistan–Kazakhstan relations are rooted in shared history, cultural affinities, and mutual respect. He described the February 2026 state visit as a milestone formally elevating bilateral relations to a strategic partnership, emphasizing convergence on regional and international issues including Jammu and Kashmir and Afghanistan.
Ambassador Khalid Mahmood underlined the importance of connectivity, regional transport corridors, and the untapped potential in trade, investment, energy, agriculture, IT, education, and people-to-people exchanges. He also announced the signing of an MoU between ISSI and Kazakhstan’s Foreign Policy Research Institute.
H.E. Yerzhan Kistafin, Ambassador of Kazakhstan to Pakistan, termed the visit as the opening of a “new chapter” in bilateral relations. He highlighted the joint declaration on strategic partnership, joint cultural, academic, scientific, and sports initiatives, growing business engagement, and plans for direct flights, trans-Afghan railway links, and diversified transport corridors, positioning both countries as gateways connecting Eurasia with South Asia, the Middle East, Africa, and beyond.
Renewal of Kazakhstan with Hopes of Achievement of Objectives Set Last Year
He shared the key outcomes of the state visit of the President of Kazakhstan to Pakistan on 3-4 February this year, highlighting the signing of the Declaration on Strategic Partnership and more than 70 agreements and memoranda, including commercial contracts.
The Ambassador also informed participants about the opening of Al-Farabi Center at Quaid-i-Azam University, K. Satbayev Center at the National University of Sciences and Technology, Khoja Ahmed Yasawi Center at the International Islamic University Islamabad, as well as the “Dostyk” Sports Center, and the successful holding of the Kazakhstan-Pakistan Business Forum.
Guest of Honor Dr. Askhat Kessikbayev, Vice President of the Turkic Academy, highlighted civilizational and cultural linkages, emphasizing academic cooperation, joint research on economic development, sustainability, water security, and regional integration.
Prof. Dr. Muhammad Iqbal Choudhary, Coordinator-General, OIC-COMSTECH, praised Kazakhstan’s investments in higher education, science, and innovation, stressing sustained academic collaboration with Pakistan.
The Chief Guest of the inaugural session Mr. Fahad Haroon, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Digital Media, described the recent Kazakhstan–Pakistan summit as a strategic reaffirmation of mutual trust and shared regional vision. He underscored Pakistan’s view of Kazakhstan as a key partner in its broader Central Asia engagement. He stressed the importance of institutional follow-up, sustained dialogue, and public discourse to ensure that the strategic partnership delivers long-term benefits for both countries and the wider region.
Time is Ripe to Take Pak- Kazakh Economic Cooperation to New Heights – by Tazeen Akhtar
The Working Session- I was moderated by Dr. Talat Shabbir, Director CPSC, ISSI. Mr. Hasan Ali Zaigham, Director General (Central Asia & ECO), Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Pakistan, described the visit as a historic milestone and highlighted Pakistan’s role as a gateway for landlocked Central Asian states.
He outlined mechanisms for strategic dialogue, a five-year roadmap for trade, and the transit trade agreement, noting Pakistan’s export potential to Kazakhstan at US$1.7 billion.
Mr. Sergey Savelyev, Senior Expert, Foreign Policy Research Institute of Kazakhstan, underscored the Joint Declaration as a landmark for cooperation in politics, security, trade, transport, education, and culture, and welcomed institutional collaboration with ISSI.
Ambassador Moin ul Haque highlighted connectivity as the central pillar of engagement, emphasizing CPEC, QTTA, regional energy projects, multimodal integration, regulatory harmonization, supply chain resilience, and Afghan engagement as essential for success.
Dr. Yasar Ayaz, Chairman, National Center of Artificial Intelligence (NCAI), Pakistan, highlighted Pakistan’s AI, robotics, and imaging capabilities, proposing joint research, innovation, and capacity-building initiatives with Kazakhstan in emerging technologies.
The Working Session II which was moderated by Dr. Amina Khan, Director CAMEA, ISSI. The session focused on economic cooperation, regional integration, and people-to-people linkages.
Dr. Hassan Daud Butt, Senior Associate Professor Bahria University, Islamabad emphasized Pakistan as a maritime gateway and Kazakhstan as a Eurasian land bridge for regional cooperation in technology, education, and innovation.
Dr. Sajid Amin, Deputy Executive Director, Sustainable Development Policy Institute (SDPI) stressed moving beyond MoUs toward results-oriented implementation, highlighting transport corridors and joint ventures as tools for sustainable trade partnerships.
Shehbaz Appreciates Kazakhstan’s contributions to strengthening cooperation among SCO countries
Mr. Mukhit Asanbayev, an expert at the Kazakhstan Institute for Strategic Studies, highlighted emerging Eurasian transit corridors, diversified connectivity, visa facilitation, and leveraging regional platforms such as SCO and Turkic cooperation mechanisms. He recommended an easy visa regime between the two countries to accelerate business to business contacts and increase the trade volume as a result.
Dr. Amna Mahmood, Dean, Social Sciences and Humanities, Shifa Tamer-e- Milat University, Islamabad, emphasized academic collaboration, cultural exchanges, tourism, and SME linkages as critical for strengthening societal understanding. Her topic was Peaple to People relations that she very rightly said, need more work to be established. She clarified that contacts between academia or think tanks could not be considered as P2P relations.
Engineer Khurram Dastgir Khan, leader of ruling PMLN, former Federal Minister for Commerce, Foreign Affairs was the Chief Guest for the concluding session. He described Pakistan–Kazakhstan relations as entering a decisive phase, structured across political dialogue, security, trade, transport, education, science, culture, climate cooperation, and regional coordination.
He emphasized moving from concept to execution, investment in education, digital connectivity, financial linkages, youth engagement, and enhanced security cooperation.
Khurram Dastgir suggested two main points to forge a strong connection between the sides. He said Kazakhstan can provide energy security while Pakistan gives route to sea for trade with the world. He mentioned it as eqaul to overall security cooperation between the sides. He recalled his memories of fostering economic cooperation with Kazakhstan in previous tenure of PMLN gov when Nawaz Sharif was Prime Minister and he was Commerce Minister.
Head of the major Central Asian business group “KCM Kant” Mr. Tanvir Aftab, Chairman at Shifer Holding emphasized on the potential of construction as a major sector to foster cooperation between Pakistan and Central Asia including Kazakhstan. He shared his experiences of working with construction companies of Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan and highlighted the scope there.
In his vote of thanks, Ambassador Khalid Mahmood noted the joint declaration and MoUs as a practical roadmap, emphasizing effective implementation and convergence on regional security, counterterrorism, Afghanistan, and Kashmir. He thanked the Embassy of Kazakhstan, speakers, and attendees, proposing follow-up engagements to ensure the strategic partnership’s objectives are fully realized.
Earlier in his introductory remarks, Dr. Talat Shabbir, Director CPSC, ISSI highlighted the historic nature of the presidential visit, agreements across multiple sectors, regional connectivity initiatives, and the scholarly contributions of the Turkic Academy.
A prominent speaker of the conference, in his interaction with media friends, pointed out the long gap of any Kazakh President’s visit to Pakistan. He mentioned that a lot of work could have been done in last two decades.
Here it is worth noting that there have been only two Presidents in Kazakhstan since after the independence in 1991. First President Nursulan Nazarbayev and now second Mr. Tokayev who assumed the responsibilities only a few years ago. He paid official visit to Pakistan as soon as he found time for that. Moreover, Kazakhstan, under incumbent President is pro actively building bridges between the brotherly countries.
Prime Minister of Kazakhstan Olzhas Bektenov visited Pakistan in Oct 2024 to participate in the 23rd Meeting of the Council of Heads of Government of the Member states of Shanghai Cooperation Organization. Kazakhstan’s SCAT Air started direct flights between Almaty and Lahore , the cultural capitals of both countries in July 2023. This speaks a lot about how keen is the Kazakhstan government to enhance cooperation with Pakistan.
