Kyrgyzstan President Sadyr Japarov inspects the guard of honor at the Prime Minister’s 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 honor 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 at the Prime Minister’s 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 by 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 Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Muhammad Ishaq Dar, Field Marshal Syed Asim Munir, Chief of Army Staff, Union Ministers and senior government officials.
The Prime Minister emphasized that Pakistan attached great importance to its brotherly relations with the Kyrgyz Republic.
He reiterated Pakistan’s continued commitment to strengthen its engagement with the Central Asian states under the “Vision Central Asia” policy.
Both leaders emphasized the importance of expanding and deepening Pakistan-Kyrgyzstan relations, which were underpinned by historical links, cultural similarities, shared values and a common vision for regional peace and prosperity. They reviewed the progress of existing cooperation frameworks and reaffirmed their shared willingness to further strengthen this partnership, particularly in the areas of trade, energy, connectivity and people-to-people contacts.
Highlighting the need to strengthen 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 results-oriented approach. The two leaders noted with satisfaction the fruitful fifth meeting of the Kyrgyzstan-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 links 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 crucial link between Central and South Asia.
The two leaders also emphasized the critical need for well-developed, secure, sustainable and diversified connectivity routes between Kyrgyzstan and Pakistan to ensure further enhancement of both bilateral and regional trade. In this regard, they expressed satisfaction with the operationalization of the road corridor between Pakistan and Kyrgyzstan under the 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 by 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 and justice, agriculture, culture and tourism.
Earlier, on arrival at the Prime Minister’s House, the President of the Kyrgyz Republic was presented a guard of honor by a contingent of Pakistani 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 to increase trade and undertake joint ventures for investment in sectors across the Pakistani economy.
While speaking at an event of Pakistan-Kyrgyzstan Business Forum, he said that Pakistan has received a high-level delegation from Kyrgyzstan led by its president after a gap of 20 years.
He similarly said that the two sides signed an MoU that will bring the bilateral trade which at this time was a paltry sum of five million dollars only to $200 million in the next two years. “This will be a quantum leap in our trade relations and bodes very well for our future cooperation,” he continued.
MoU
Pakistan and Kyrgyzstan signed several agreements to strengthen bilateral cooperation across several sectors, including energy, mining, trade, agriculture, culture, health, tourism and regional relations.
The pre-signed documents were formally exchanged during a ceremony held at the Prime Minister’s House as part of the first state visit by the President of the Kyrgyz Republic, Sadyr Nurgozhoevich Zhaparov, at the invitation of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif.
The ceremony was attended by Prime Minister Shehbaz and President Zhaparov.
The two leaders signed a joint statement on “Strengthening 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 Trade and Pakistan’s Ministry of Commerce.
the MoUs on cooperation in the field of agriculture; mining and geosciences; the energy sector and the 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 convicted persons to prison for serving their sentences.
Both sides exchanged the Memorandum of Understanding on Electronic Data Exchange between the customs authorities of both countries; and cooperation in tourism; and surgical instruments.
The two sides also exchanged the documents on an agreement in the field of culture as well as on the establishment of sister city links between Bishkek and Islamabad.
The representatives from both sides also exchanged memorandum of understanding for cooperation between the Ministry of Justice of Kyrgyzstan and the Ministry of Law and Justice of Pakistan; between the Prime Minister’s Youth Program 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).
