Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) -- On 8 June, the Academy of the Ministry of Defense of the Republic of Uzbekistan hosted a meeting of experts from the Institute for Strategic and Interregional Studies with a delegation from the National Defense University of Pakistan that arrived on an exchange basis.

The parties exchanged views on the state and prospects of bilateral Uzbek-Pakistani relations, including military and military-technical cooperation.

Speaking at the event, the head of the department of the Institute for Strategic and Interregional Studies under the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan Alisher Kadyrov noted that this year Uzbekistan and Pakistan are celebrating the 30th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations.

According to him, over the past period, the development of cooperation between the countries has maintained a positive trend, and over the past 5 years, interstate relations have received an additional powerful impetus and reached a qualitatively new level.

Evidence of this, the ISMI expert emphasized, is the intensity of Uzbek-Pakistani political contacts at the highest and high levels. Most of the necessary institutional mechanisms for bilateral interaction have been created between the countries. In July 2021, a declaration on the establishment of a strategic partnership was signed between Tashkent and Islamabad.

At the same time, Alisher Kadyrov noted, the visit of the delegation of the National Defense University of Pakistan is an important part of bilateral Uzbek-Pakistani relations.

In recent years, the interaction of the armed forces of the two countries continues to expand. The Defense Ministries signed a Memorandum of Understanding, a Protocol on Cooperation in the Field of Military Education, and an Agreement on military-technical cooperation. As a result of the agreements reached, in 2018, the first joint training of the Armed Forces of the two countries took place at the Forish training ground. In 2019, trilateral joint exercises were held in Uzbekistan between the units of the armed forces of Uzbekistan, Turkey and Pakistan.

On 23 March 2022, the military contingent of the Ministry of Defense of the Republic of Uzbekistan for the first time took part in a military parade organized in honor of the 75th anniversary of the Republic Day in Islamabad.

At the same time, the head of the ISMI department stated a high level of cooperation between Uzbekistan and Pakistan is achieved thanks to the start of the joint implementation of the strategy for developing the interconnectedness of Central and South Asia.

It is gratifying to note that Pakistan has fully supported and is an important partner in the implementation of the initiative of President Shavkat Mirziyoyev on the development of interregional interconnectedness, put forward by him at the high-level international conference “Central and South Asia: Regional Connectivity. Challenges and Opportunities”.

During meetings at all levels, the parties agreed to strengthen cooperation in this area on the principles of joint discussion, building and using existing opportunities. It should also be noted that the priorities of the interconnectedness initiative largely coincide with the ideas of the New Strategy of Uzbekistan for 2022-2026.

According to Alisher Kadyrov, an important element in the development of relations between the regions of Central and South Asia is the construction of the trans-Afghan railway Mazar-i-Sharif-Kabul-Peshawar. “The commissioning of this communication will not only serve to develop trade, economic and investment cooperation, strengthen the interconnectedness of both regions, but will also significantly reduce the time for delivery of goods to Central Asia, the CIS and Europe,” he stressed.

Another important area of Uzbek-Pakistani cooperation, the expert called the development of energy infrastructure linking the energy systems of Central and South Asia. In this regard, cooperation within the framework of the Uzbek-Afghan-Pakistani scheme for the implementation of the Surkhan-Puli-Khumri energy project, which can become a link in the CASA-1000 project, is seen as promising.

In this context, the meeting participants summarized that the cooperation of Tashkent with Islamabad, as well as expanding ties with neighboring Afghanistan in promoting infrastructure, transport and logistics projects in this country, will make an invaluable contribution to establishing peace and stability on Afghan soil.

In conclusion, the interlocutors noted that strengthening relations between Uzbekistan and Pakistan has broad prospects. Readiness was expressed to further expand exchanges in various areas of interaction to bring the Uzbek-Pakistani strategic partnership to a new level and make a new contribution to the cause of peace, stability and development of Central and South Asia.