ISLAMABAD: The year 2024 was an active year for Pakistan’s diplomacy with a focus on enhancing Pakistan’s international profile and strengthening relations with countries around the world.
However, Pakistan faced severe criticism internationally over conducting civilian trials in military courts. The US, the UK, and the EU were at the forefront on condemning the recently announced verdicts of these courts.
High-level visits exchanged with Azerbaijan, Belarus, Belgium, China, Egypt, Gambia, Iran, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Malaysia, Qatar, Russia, Samoa, Saudi Arabia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Türkiye, the UAE, Uzbekistan and the United Kingdom, helped develop important understandings with these countries.
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Foreign Office (FO) Spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch, while releasing the details, said that President Asif Ali Zardari visited Turkmenistan to attend the International Forum on “Interrelation of Times and Civilizations – Basis of Peace and Development” held in Ashgabat on 10-11 October 2024.
The prime minister of Pakistan undertook visits to Azerbaijan, China, Egypt, Iran, Kazakhstan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Tajikistan, and the UAE, she added.
FO spokesperson further said that in 2024, Pakistan hosted a number of high-level dignitaries.
Leadership level visits took place from Azerbaijan, Belarus, China, Iran, Kazakhstan, Malaysia, Mongolia, Qatar, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan.
Senior Cabinet Ministers of China, Saudi Arabia, Iran, India, Germany, Qatar, Russia and the United Kingdom visited Pakistan. The UN High Commissioner for Refugees, Secretary General CICA and the secretaries general of SAARC, IMO and the Commonwealth also undertook visits to Pakistan during 2024.
This year, Mumtaz Zahra said, “We witnessed major transformations and far-reaching developments in our region and around the world. Political changes in Africa, South Asia, Middle East, Europe, and East Asia meant foreign policy adaptations and adjustments by countries around the world including Pakistan”.
Despite these developments, Pakistan continued to promote its relations with countries around the world on the basis of equality, mutual interest and mutually beneficial cooperation. We prioritised dialogue and consultations with countries around the globe.
Pakistan continued its policy of robust engagement with its close partners and friends. We reinforced our traditional partnerships with China, Türkiye, Saudi Arabia, and the wider Islamic world. These relationships are based on mutual trust and friendship and characterised by a tradition of robust dialogue and exchange of bilateral visits.
Year 2024 was marked by the traditional warmth and high-level exchanges between Pakistan and China. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif undertook an official visit to China in June while Premier Li Qian of China visited Pakistan in October. Pakistan and China also held the Fifth Pakistan-China Foreign Ministers’ Strategic Dialogue in Beijing in May 2024.
During these high level visits and exchanges, the two countries reached extensive consensus on further consolidating and deepening the Pakistan-China All-Weather Strategic Cooperative Partnership; and promoting practical cooperation in diverse fields with a special focus on CPEC.
There was a robust exchange of high-level engagements between Pakistan and the GCC countries. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif undertook four official visits to Saudi Arabia which consolidated our strategic and economic partnership. Important understandings were reached with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in political, security and economic domains and to translate the commitment between prime minister of Pakistan and Prince Mohammed bin Salman to expedite the investment package worth US $5 billion.
Trade and investment opportunities also remained a key focus of our bilateral engagements with Kuwait, Qatar and the UAE.
The outgoing year was started with an unfortunate military exchange with Iran. However, the two countries were successfully able to move forward through robust and active diplomatic engagement and high-level dialogue. With the official visit of late President Seyyed Ebrahim Raisi official visit to Pakistan from 22 to 24 April 2024, the two countries developed understandings on political, economic, and security matters.
Afghanistan remained a priority on the agenda of Pakistan’s diplomatic outreach. Trade connectivity and people-to-people contacts were a priority in our engagement with Afghanistan. We have had some incidents on the border with Afghanistan. Pakistan’s major concern of terror hideouts and sanctuaries inside Afghanistan remained high on our bilateral agenda, said the spokesperson.
Pakistan participated in meetings and mechanisms aimed at promoting peace in Afghanistan including in the Moscow Format talks held in Moscow in November and the third quadrilateral meeting of foreign ministers of China, Iran, Pakistan, and Russia. The ministers reiterated their support for Afghanistan’s national sovereignty, political independence, unity, and territorial integrity.
The first Pakistan-Türkiye-Azerbaijan Trilateral Summit was held in Astana in Kazakhstan in July.
Pakistan also continued to engage with the United States, to promote bilateral understanding.
The United States remains the largest export market for Pakistani products.
The European Union has lifted a four-year ban imposed on Pakistan International Airlines (PIA), leading to resumption of PIA flights to Europe. Pakistan is also engaged with the non-EU countries for the resumption of flights in the wider region as well.
Pakistan’s engagement continued to grow with non-EU countries including Belarus, Norway, Russia, Switzerland and the United Kingdom.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2024
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