By Staff Reporter
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan and Kyrgyzstan agreed to raise bilateral trade more than tenfold to $200 million annually within two years, as Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif pressed ahead with an effort to position his country as a gateway between South and Central Asia.
The agreement, signed Wednesday during Sharif’s visit to Bishkek, aims to close the gap on trade flows that currently total just $16 million a year — a figure Sharif told reporters was “not a patch on our friendship, our brotherhood, and our very strong relations.”
The deal was part of a broader package of accords signed as Sharif met Kyrgyz President Sadyr Zhaparov to discuss trade, investment, energy and transport links. Pakistani Information Minister Attaullah Tarrar said the trade pact was signed at Sharif’s request and characterized it as evidence the premier had “turned words into action.”
Landlocked Kyrgyzstan is seeking wider access to global markets through Pakistan’s Arabian Sea ports, part of a push by Islamabad to deepen commercial ties with Central Asian economies and, by extension, the broader Eurasian trading system. The two governments signed a transit trade agreement to ease the movement of goods and agreed to simplify customs and administrative procedures under an existing quadrilateral transit framework. They also committed to expanding multimodal transport routes and making greater use of Pakistani ports for Kyrgyz trade.
A joint statement issued after the talks said the two leaders had directed their governments to draft a “comprehensive action plan” to improve trading mechanisms and back joint investment and industrial ventures. The countries identified mining and processing, agriculture, food, textiles, pharmaceuticals, the halal industry and digital technology as priority sectors for expanded cooperation, including through joint ventures and localized production.
Energy featured prominently in the discussions. The leaders called for timely completion of CASA-1000, a $1.2 billion regional power-transmission project intended to carry surplus hydropower from Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan through Afghanistan to Pakistan. Under the scheme, Pakistan is slated to receive roughly 1,000 megawatts of electricity and Afghanistan 300 megawatts, mostly during summer months when Central Asian hydropower output peaks. The two sides also formed a joint working group to pursue cooperation on electricity, hydropower, renewable energy and energy infrastructure.
Beyond commerce and power, Pakistan and Kyrgyzstan signed an extradition treaty, an agreement on mutual legal assistance in criminal matters, and an accord targeting illicit trafficking in narcotics, psychotropic substances and precursor chemicals. Additional agreements covered virtual assets, medical education, science and technology, education, climate change, strategic research, and postal services and e-commerce. Lahore and the Kyrgyz city of Osh were designated sister cities.
The two leaders also said Afghan territory should not be used for activity that threatens the security of other nations, tying the country’s stability to broader efforts to build economic and transport links across South and Central Asia.
Speaking alongside Zhaparov at the Kyrgyz presidential palace, Sharif said the two countries had agreed to deepen cooperation in education, science and technology, and culture, and pledged support for expanding trade ties between their private sectors. He described the transit trade agreement as a welcome development and said the Lahore-Osh sister-city designation would strengthen cultural links. The two sides also agreed to cooperate against terrorism and extremism and on climate change, Sharif said.
Sharif thanked Zhaparov for his hospitality and congratulated Kyrgyzstan on its Independence Day, its election as a non-permanent member of the United Nations Security Council, and its hosting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit earlier this year. Following the bilateral meeting, Zhaparov personally drove Sharif to the airport for his departure. Sharif had earlier been received at the presidential palace with a guard of honor.
Diplomatic Programme, MoUs Round Out Visit
Ahead of the joint press conference, officials from both countries signed a series of additional accords spanning security, education, environmental policy and technology. Sharif and Zhaparov witnessed a ceremony in which representatives exchanged pre-signed documents, and both leaders signed a joint statement summarizing the outcomes of Sharif’s three-day visit.
The countries’ foreign ministries signed a diplomatic Programme of Cooperation covering 2026 and 2027. Pakistan’s Institute of Strategic Studies Islamabad and Kyrgyzstan’s National Institute for Strategic Initiatives signed a memorandum to strengthen research collaboration, while the National Defence University Pakistan signed a separate agreement with the same Kyrgyz institute for academic research and joint activities.
The interior ministries of both countries signed a memorandum to combat trafficking in narcotic drugs, psychotropic substances and precursor chemicals. Kyrgyzstan’s health ministry and the Pakistan Medical and Dental Council signed an agreement on medical education cooperation, and the two countries’ education ministries signed a separate accord to promote educational ties.
Kyrgyzstan’s Ministry of Natural Resources, Ecology and Technical Supervision signed a memorandum with Pakistan’s Ministry of Climate Change and Environmental Coordination to strengthen cooperation on environmental and climate issues. The National Agency for Virtual Assets and Blockchain Technologies, operating under the Kyrgyz presidency, signed an agreement with the Pakistan Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority to cooperate on virtual assets.
Kyrgyz Post and Pakistan Post signed a bilateral agreement on postal services and e-commerce cooperation, while the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Kyrgyz Republic and the Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry agreed to work together to boost bilateral business ties.
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