Kyrgyzstan’s President Sadyr Japarov inspects the guard of honour at the Prime Minister House in Islamabad. Photo: AFP
ISLAMABAD:
Pakistan and Kyrgyzstan on Thursday, underscoring the importance of regional peace and stability, agreed that the Afghan Taliban regime must honour its commitments to the international community, and address Pakistan’s legitimate security concerns, by taking concrete and verifiable actions against terrorist entities.
The bilateral and regional ties were discussed during the delegation level talks held at the Prime Minister House.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Kyrgyz President Sadyr Zhaparov Nurgozhoevich led their respective sides at a delegation level meeting.
Both leaders also reaffirmed their commitment to a peaceful and stable Afghanistan and a sustainable future for its people.
During the talks, both sides also exchanged views on important regional and global developments. While expressing their concern over the escalating threats to peace and security in the region, they agreed that disputes must be resolved through peaceful means in accordance with international law including the UN Charter, and relevant UN Security Council resolutions.
The two sides also exchanged views on the ongoing peace efforts in Gaza and reiterated their unwavering support for the Palestinian people’s right to self-determination and the establishment of a sovereign, viable, contiguous, and independent Palestinian state, based on pre-June 1967 borders with Al-Quds Al-Sharif as its capital.
During the talks, the prime minister was assisted by the Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Muhammad Ishaq Dar, Field Marshal Syed Asim Munir, Chief of Army Staff, Federal Ministers and senior government officials.
The prime minister emphasized that Pakistan attached high importance to its brotherly relations with the Kyrgyz Republic.
He reiterated Pakistan’s abiding commitment to enhancing its engagement with the Central Asian states under the “Vision Central Asia” policy.
Both leaders emphasized the significance of expanding and deepening Pakistan-Kyrgyz relations, that were underpinned by historic links, cultural similarities, shared values, and a common vision for regional peace and prosperity. They reviewed progress on existing cooperation frameworks and reaffirmed their shared resolve to further strengthen this partnership, particularly in the areas of trade, energy, connectivity and people-to-people contacts.
Highlighting the need to enhance economic cooperation, the two sides agreed to expand bilateral trade and investment, setting a target of USD 200 million bilateral trade volume by 2027-28, through effective implementation of the signed agreements/MoUs and a result-oriented approach. The two leaders noted with satisfaction the fruitful Fifth meeting of the Kyrgyz-Pakistan Joint Intergovernmental Commission on Trade, Economic, Scientific, Technical and Cultural Cooperation, held in Islamabad, on 28-29 July 2025.
Both sides recognized the importance of energy connectivity for regional stability. They reiterated their shared vision of timely and effective implementation of the CASA-1000 project, which represents a cornerstone of regional energy cooperation and a vital link between Central and South Asia.
The two leaders also stressed upon the vital need for well developed, secure, sustainable and diversified connectivity routes between Kyrgyz Republic and Pakistan to ensure the further enhancement of bilateral as well as regional trade. In this regard, they expressed satisfaction over operationalization of the road corridor between Pakistan and Kyrgyz Republic under Quadrilateral Traffic in Transit Agreement (QTTA).
During the talks, both sides also exchanged views on important regional and global developments. While expressing their concern over the escalating threats to peace and security in the region, they agreed that disputes must be resolved through peaceful means in accordance with international law including the UN Charter, and relevant UN Security Council resolutions.
Thereafter, both leaders witnessed the exchange of 15 MoUs and agreements in various sectors including energy, mining, trade, education, law & justice, agriculture, culture and tourism.
Earlier, upon arrival at the Prime Minister’s House, the President of the Kyrgyz Republic was presented guard of honour by a contingent of Pakistan’s armed forces.
The prime minister also hosted a luncheon in honor of the Kyrgyz President and his delegation. Both leaders also addressed a joint press conference.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif urged businessmen from Kyrgyzstan to identify areas of mutual cooperation for enhancing trade and undertaking joint ventures for investment in sectors across the Pakistani economy.
While speaking at an event of Pakistan-Kyrgyzstan Business Forum, he said Pakistan have received a high-level delegation from Kyrgyzstan led by its President, after a gap of 20 years.
He said similarly the two sides signed an MoU that will take the bilateral trade which at this point in time was a paltry sum of five million dollars only to $200 million in next two years. “This will be a quantum jump in our trade relations and will augur very well for our future cooperation,” he continued.
MoU
Pakistan and Kyrgyzstan signed multiple accords to strengthen bilateral cooperation across multiple sectors, including energy, mining, commerce, agriculture, culture, health, tourism, and regional connectivity.
The pre-signed documents were formally exchanged during a ceremony held at the Prime Minister’s House as part of the maiden state visit of President of the Kyrgyz Republic Sadyr Nurgozhoevich Zhaparov, at the invitation of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif.
The ceremony was witnessed by Prime Minister Shehbaz and President Zhaparov.
The two leaders signed a joint statement on “Strengthening of Comprehensive Cooperation in the Interest of Both Countries.”
Both sides exchanged MoUs between the Foreign Service Academy of Pakistan and the Diplomatic Academy of the Kyrgyz Republic; and between the Kyrgyz Ministry of Economy and Commerce and the Ministry of Commerce of Pakistan.
The MoUs on cooperation in the field of agriculture; mining and geosciences; energy sector and utilization of Pakistan’s ports for regional connectivity were exchanged between the Pakistani and Kyrgyz sides.
Pakistan and Kyrgyzstan exchanged the documents of agreement on the transfer of sentenced persons to prison for serving the sentence.
Both sides exchanged the MoUs on electronic data interchange between the customs services of both countries; and cooperation in the sphere of tourism; and surgical instruments.
The two sides also exchanged the documents of an agreement in the field of culture as well as for establishing sister-city relations between Bishkek and Islamabad.
The representatives from both sides also exchanged MoUs of cooperation between the Kyrgyz Ministry of Justice and the Pakistan’s Ministry of Law and Justice; between Prime Minister’s Youth Programme of Pakistan and the Ministry of Culture, Information, Sports and Youth Policy of Kyrgyzstan; and between the Diplomatic Academy of the Kyrgyz Republic and the National University of Modern Languages (NUML).
