ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan said on Wednesday that peace in Afghanistan was imperative to enhance regional connectivity and bilateral trade between Pakistan and Tajikistan as the two countries signed at least twelve agreements and memoranda of understanding in the fields of education, commerce and transport.
In a joint press stakeout with Tajikistan President Emomali Rahmon in Islamabad, the prime minister said the two sides discussed mutual cooperation in different fields including peace in Afghanistan and climate change.
“For mutual trade to grow between both the countries, there should be peace in Afghanistan,” Khan said, adding that Pakistan and Tajikistan feared anarchy in Kabul if the US pulled out its forces from Afghanistan without waiting for a political settlement in that country.
“If uprising erupts there in Afghanistan, our trade will be impacted due to the connectivity, and secondly we fear that terrorism will escalate,” he continued.
The prime minister suspected more militants could cross border and enter Pakistan from Afghanistan while informing that “Tajikistan has the same fears as well.”
“It is utmost important for both the countries that a political settlement is reached in Afghanistan,” he added. “When Americans withdraw, there must be stability and a consensus government [in Afghanistan] to help quell anarchy.”
The Tajik president arrived in Islamabad on Wednesday on a two-day visit on the Pakistani prime minister’s invitation to discuss a host of issues of bilateral interest. He is accompanied by a high-level delegation and was welcomed at the foreign office earlier in the day by Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi and other top officials.
Concurring with Khan, Rahmon maintained his country was ready to discuss peace and stability in Afghanistan at all national and international forums.
“We are immediate next door neighboring countries of Afghanistan and a durable peace there is in our interest,” the Tajik president said, adding that peace in Afghanistan was required for progress and stability of the whole region.
The second challenge the top leaders of the two countries discussed was the adverse impact of climate change on water resources and agriculture since both of them receive major share of water from glaciers.
“If the world fails to react to it, our future generations will be vulnerable to it [the climate change],” Khan said, adding that the two countries had decided to take this up at all international forums.
Talking about the bilateral trade between Pakistan and Tajikistan, Rahmon said: “We want to increase the volume of the bilateral trade compared to previous years.”
He also proposed a joint working group for energy and infrastructure development after the COVID-19 pandemic receded while showing interest in regional connectivity and transportation to access Pakistan’s Gwadar and Karachi seaports.
Other than that, the Tajik president proposed the establishment of joint ventures in food and cotton production in free economic zones of Pakistan and cooperation in healthcare and pharmaceutical industry.
The two countries’ interests converge on major regional and international issues, and they cooperate closely at various multilateral fora. Tajikistan is the current chair of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization. Foreign Minister Qureshi visited Dushanbe in March 2021 to attend the ministerial meeting of the Heart of Asia-Istanbul Process (HoA-IP), followed by a bilateral visit to Tajikistan.
On 25 May 2021, the two sides held the 5th round of the Pakistan-Tajikistan Bilateral Political Consultations (BPC) at the level of foreign secretary/first deputy foreign minister and reviewed the whole gamut of bilateral relations.
Both Pakistan and Tajikistan are part of the CASA-1000 transmission line project along with Kyrgyz Republic and Afghanistan. The power project envisages the transportation of surplus electric power from the Kyrgyz Republic and Tajikistan to Pakistan (1000 MW) and Afghanistan (300 MW).
Rahmon has visited Pakistan seven times since 1994. His last bilateral visit was in November 2015. In the multilateral context, the Tajik president also visited Pakistan for the 13th ECO Summit held in Islamabad in March 2017.
