Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) -- On 13 June, an international online conference was held on the topic: "Pakistani-Uzbek bilateral relations: a look at foreign policy." The event, organized by the Institute for Strategic and Interregional Studies (ISMI) under the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan, together with the Center for South Asia and International Studies (CSAIS) of Pakistan, was attended by prominent experts from the leading think tanks of the two countries.

During the webinar, the prospects for Uzbek-Pakistani relations were discussed in the context of strengthening interregional interconnectedness between Central and South Asia in the context of the development of the situation in the region and in the international arena.

Opening the event, ISMI Deputy Director Bobur Usmanov noted that recently cooperation between Uzbekistan and Pakistan has been significantly strengthened. This is confirmed by the increase in the intensity of bilateral political contacts at the highest and high levels, the development of trade and economic ties, and the expansion of cooperation in the cultural, humanitarian and educational fields.

As B. Usmanov emphasized, thanks to the initiatives of the President of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev to restore interconnectedness between Central and South Asia, cooperation between our regions has entered a new stage of development. All these trends show Tashkent’s intentions and Islamabad to bring cooperation to a qualitatively new level and expand multifaceted interaction.

In his speech, CSAIS President Sayyid Khalid Jaffrey also confirmed Pakistan’s interest in strengthening the strategic partnership with Uzbekistan and restoring interregional connectivity.

According to him, Islamabad fully supports the foreign policy initiatives of the President of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev, announced at the July 2021 Tashkent conference “Central and South Asia: regional interconnectedness. Challenges and Opportunities”.

“Particular attention should be paid to Tashkent’s promotion of interregional transport and economic projects aimed at expanding regional connectivity.

In this vein, Pakistan is ready to contribute to the practical implementation of the project for the construction of the Trans-Afghan railway corridor "Termez - Mazar-i-Sharif - Kabul - Peshawar", - said the head of the Pakistani "think tank".

As S. Jaffrey pointed out, the trans-Afghan corridor can become a link between the One Belt, One Road projects and the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, which will make it possible to realize the economic potential of the countries of the two neighboring regions.

Complementing his colleague, the director of the Center for CSAIS, Dr. Mehmood Ul Hassan Khan, emphasized the importance of Shavkat Mirziyoyev’s proposals in further strengthening the Uzbek-Pakistani trade and economic ties.

In his opinion, there is a significant unrealized export potential in mutual trade between Uzbekistan and the Islamic Republic of Iran. Thus, over the past five years, the volume of foreign trade between the two countries has increased 5 times.

At the same time, the Pakistani expert highlighted the approach of Uzbekistan to develop effective measures for the free movement of investments, goods and services, the formation of a developed system of transport communications and energy infrastructure.

“In this context, the vector taken for the development of mutually beneficial relations between the Islamic Republic of Uzbekistan and Uzbekistan will continue in the face of changes in the domestic political situation in the country,” he explained.

Akhtar Nawaz, a senior member of the Board of Directors of the CSAIS, Akhtar Nawaz, pointed out that thanks to the concrete steps taken by the leadership of Uzbekistan, the process of restoring interconnectedness between Central and South Asia has grown into a regional scale and moved to a qualitatively new level.

As the Pakistani expert pointed out, the initiatives of the Uzbek leader to implement digital connectivity in the field of trade, transit and border crossing show their importance in the context of the intensification of trade and economic exchanges between the countries of Central and South Asia.

Highly appreciating the diplomacy and initiatives of Shavkat Mirziyoyev in relation to Afghanistan, as well as the active role of Tashkent in the process of stabilizing the situation in this country, Shahid Khashmat, an expert of the CSAIS, emphasized the importance of the joint efforts of Uzbekistan and Pakistan to provide widespread support for the speedy resolution of the Afghan conflict.

As the Pakistani analyst noted, Tashkent and Islamabad show an exemplary example of constructive interaction in the Afghan direction, which has acquired a consolidated and comprehensive character.

Touching upon the broader agenda of Uzbek-Pakistani relations, Zilola Yunusova, head of the department at the Institute for forecasting and macroeconomic researches, stressed that the absence of borders between states increases the importance of Afghanistan as a transit country. That is why the development of trade and economic cooperation between Pakistan and Uzbekistan and other states of Central Asia requires a reliable "Afghan transit".

Speaking about mutual trade between Uzbekistan and Pakistan, CERR Chief Researcher Edward Romanov emphasized that there is significant untapped potential in this area. In the structure of Uzbek-Pakistani export-import operations, almost half of the volume is occupied by food products. This already testifies to the cooperation of countries in ensuring food security.

The webinar participants agreed that today there are great prospects for expanding the Uzbek-Pakistani strategic partnership. It was emphasized that projects to expand the regional interconnectedness of Central and South Asia, including through the acceleration of sustainable trade and economic cooperation between the countries of the two regions, are becoming one of the topical areas of interaction.

In conclusion, the parties agreed to continue constant contact between the analytical centers of the two countries to develop specific proposals for further strengthening mutually beneficial cooperation.