Kazakhstan and Pakistan: 30 Years of Friendship and to be continued.

Byline: Mukhtar Tileuberdi

Last year, Kazakhstan celebrated the 30th anniversary of its independence. Our people remember well how, after the adoption of the fateful decision on December 16, 1991, Pakistan, just in four days, on December 20, 1991, recognized sovereign Kazakhstan as one of the first amongst. Two months later, on February 24, 1992, the first visit of the First President of the Republic of Kazakhstan, Nursultan Nazarbayev, to Islamabad took place, during which Kazakhstan and Pakistan officially established diplomatic relations, thereby laying the foundation for building our cooperation in various fields.

From the first days of developing relations, our nations perceived each other as important partners in the international arena, with shared historical roots, and in search of a safer peaceful world. Over the past three decades, we have strengthened ties both in a bilateral format and within the framework of regional and international organizations. Pakistan has regularly supported Kazakh initiatives aimed at consolidating international peace, security, and dialogue, such as the Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia (CICA) and the Congress of Leaders of World and Traditional Religions, taking an active part in these forums. Our representatives carried out fruitful work within the framework of other organizations and structures, primarily the UN, the SCO, the ECO, etc.

We look forward to welcoming Prime Minister Imran Khan to the 6th CICA Summit in October 2022, dedicated to the 30th anniversary of the Conference. We also pay particular attention to our interaction with Pakistan within the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, whose Ministerial Conference I am attending this week in Islamabad. Among the many challenges that the Ummah faces nowadays, I would like to highlight the increasing risks concerning food security in view of climate change and military conflicts of growing intensity due to the worsening geopolitical situation.

Therefore, as a major global producer of wheat and other agricultural products, we urge all our partners to support the Islamic Organization for Food Security activities, headquartered in Kazakhstan's capital. When it comes to bilateral format cooperation, we have a good record in trade and interaction through educational institutions. Of interest for Kazakhstan is the experience of the Pakistani Armed Forces' participation UN's peacekeeping operations potential. The two...