Tazeen Akhtar
Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif will be visiting Samarkand, Uzbekistan, on 15-16 September 2022 to attend the Annual Meeting of the Council of Heads of State (CHS) of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) where Pakistan can find new avenues of cooperation with member states, especially Uzbekistan. The Prime Minister will be participating in the SCO-CHS on the invitation of the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan His Excellency Shavkat Mirziyoyev, who would chair the meeting. The leaders of SCO Members and Observer States as well as heads of SCO organizations and other special guests would attend the meeting.
The leaders of brotherly countries have interacted on phone calls but meeting in person will be the first after Shehbaz Sharif assumed charge in April this year. Shehbaz has no close contacts with Uzbekistan in the past only because he was CM in Punjab province but he has the strongest links in the sense that his elder brother, former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif was the pioneer of building relations with CARs, especially Uzbekistan.
Another mainstream political party in Shehbaz government is Pakistan Peoples Party. That too attaches great importance to close bonds with Uzbekistan. The Chairman of PPP, Mr. Bilawal Bhutto Zardari is the foreign minister in Shehbaz’ cabinet. Bilawal visited Uzbekistan last month to participate in SCO Foreign Ministers Conference.
President Uzbekistan Looking Forward to Welcome PM Pakistan to SCO Summit Samarkand
The CHS is the highest forum of the SCO, which considers and defines the strategy, prospects and priorities of the Organization. At the forthcoming CHS, the SCO leaders will deliberate on important global and regional issues, including climate change, food security energy security, and sustainable supply chains. They would also approve agreements and documents that would chart the future direction of cooperation among SCO member states.
Besides attending the summit, the Prime Minister would hold bilateral meetings with other participating leaders on the sidelines of the CHS.
The SCO is a major trans-regional organization spanning South and Central Asia. Founded in 2001, the SCO upholds the values and principles enshrined in the Shanghai Spirit that include mutual trust, mutual benefit, and pursuit of common development.
Collectively, the SCO member states represent nearly half of the world’s population and a quarter of global economic output. SCOs agenda of promoting peace and stability, and seeking enhanced linkages in, economic, trade, and cultural spheres, is aligned with Pakistan’s own vision for enhancing economic connectivity as well as peace and stability in the region.
Since becoming full member of SCO in 2017, Pakistan has been actively contributing toward advancing the Organizations core objectives through its participation in various SCO mechanisms.
President Shavkat Mirziyoyev noted in his article published few days ago;
“There is only one way out of the dangerous spiral of problems in an interconnected world where we all live today – through constructive dialogue and multilateral cooperation based on consideration and respect for the interests of everyone. It is exactly at the time of crisis when all the countries – whether they are large, medium, or small by size – must put aside their narrow interests and focus on such mutual interaction, unite and multiply the common efforts and possibilities to counter the threats and challenges to peace, security and sustainable development that are related to each of us.”
The Ambassador of Uzbekistan, Mr. Oybek Arif Usmanov, paid a courtesy call on Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on 15 Aug 2022. The Ambassador conveyed warm greetings from the President of Uzbekistan for Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif and said that President Shavkat Mirziyeyov was looking forward to welcoming the Prime Minister to the SCO Summit at Samarkand next month.
Pakistan and Uzbekistan have matured the dream of connectivity via Road, Rail, and Air links in the recent past. Both countries signed a trilateral train agreement to run a train from Tirmiz to Mazar I Sharif and from there to Peshawer. Dispatch of trade material on trucks has also been experienced successfully between the two states last year.
Uzbekistan is the only country in Central Asia to have direct flights to Pakistan. The flights were suspended during COVID-19 restrictions for the time being. Both countries are working on the restoration of flights as soon as possible. Uzbekistan is keen to be contacted with Pakistan and Pakistan offers the brotherly country access to her ports that are the nearest for Uzbekistan to touch the international sea trade routes.
In short, a mutual desire to promote close ties in trade, economics, investment, culture, education, agriculture, defense etc is present in both countries that can be materialized in the best interest of the people of both states and the region as a whole. Pakistan is the gateway to South Asia and Uzbekistan can provide access to all Central Asian Republics and Eurasia.
