History of interstate relationship establishment
Pakistan was among the first in the world to have recognized Kazakhstan in 1991 as a sovereign state.
Diplomatic relations between the Republic of Kazakhstan and the Islamic Republic of Pakistan has been functioning Islamabad since February 24, 1992.
Since November 27, 1994, the Embassy of the Republic of Kazakhstan has been functioning in Islamabad.
The first Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Kazakhstan to the Islamic Republic of Pakistan was a prominent lawyer and diplomat Aitmukhambetov Tamas Kalmukhambetovich.
Afterwards Kazakh diplomatic mission in Pakistan was run by B.N.Narbayev (1999-2003), B.O.Isabayev (2003-2006), B.S.Shabarbayev (2006-2018), B.K.Sadykov (2018-2019), A.A.Rakhmetullin (2019-2021).
Since mid-May 2021, the Ambassador of Kazakhstan to Pakistan Mr. Yerzhan Kistafin.
The Embassy of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan has been also operating in Astana and since June 23, 2020 has been headed by the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Sajjad Seehar.
Political field cooperation
Relations between the Republic of Kazakhstan and the Islamic Republic of Pakistan have been developing in a fruitful constructive manner since the very establishment of diplomatic relations.
It was evident in 2016 through Pakistan-extended support to Kazakhstan's candidacy for gaining a non-permanent membership in the UN Security Council for 2017-2018. Earlier (in 2011) Kazakhstan provided a same kind of support to the bid of Pakistan. Apart of that, Pakistan raised its voice in favor of supporting Kazakhstan’s bid to join the Asia-Europe Forum (ASEM) and the World Trade Organization.
The legal background of bilateral cooperation is founded upon the Agreement on establishing diplomatic and consular relations between Kazakhstan and Pakistan and the Declaration on principles of relations between Kazakhstan and Pakistan.
The visits of the President of Kazakhstan N.Nazarbayev to Pakistan in 1992 and 2003 were of great importance for pushing development of Kazakh-Pak relations to move forward.
Furthermore, through the 90-s of the last century and in following 2000-s the leaders of Pakistan at the level of President and Prime Minister have repeatedly visited Kazakhstan both with bilateral visits and with the aim of participating in major international events.
Last time such a high-level visit took place in September 2017, when the President of Pakistan Mamnoon Hussain took part in the 1st Organization of Islamic Cooperation Summit on Science and Technology held in Astana and in the closing ceremony of the international specialized exhibition "Astana EXPO-2017".
Apart of that, the parliamentary delegation from Pakistan led by the Speaker of the National Assembly Asad Qaiser visited Kazakhstan on September 23-24, 2019 with the aim of participating at the IV Forum of Speakers of Parliaments of Eurasian countries, held in Nur-Sultan.
On October 9-12, 2019, the Mayor of Islamabad, Sheikh Ansar Aziz, participated at the VIII Global summit on urban tourism development of the UN World Tourism Organization, held in Nur-Sultan.
Kazakhstan and Pakistan have in common similar or identical stands on most urgent issues of world politics, what is a true basis for effective interstate interaction of two countries within international organizations, like the UN, the OIC, the CICA, the SCO, etc.
The parties confirmed their intention to strengthen a bilateral political dialogue and cooperation during the Inaugural round of political consultations, held in Islamabad on February 28, 2020 at the foreign ministries level.
The decision taken by the Government of Pakistan in April 2020 to provide a set of requested medicines to Kazakhstan as humanitarian aid to combat the spread of the coronavirus (COVID-19) was another manifestation friendly relations between the countries.
Trade and economic cooperation
Currently, the main mechanism for implementing interstate cooperation in the trade and economic sphere is the Kazakhstan-Pakistan Intergovernmental Commission on trade and economic, scientific, technical and cultural cooperation.
To date, the parties have held 9 meetings of the Intergovernmental Commission, the last of which was held on February 27-28, 2020 in Islamabad.
The commission is co-chaired by Minister of Trade and Integration Bakyt Sultanov from the Kazakh side, and Economy Minister Omar Ayub Khan from the Pakistani side.
In 2020 the volume of bilateral trade volume between Kazakhstan and Pakistan amounted to 45 million 556.8 thousand US dollars, of which Kazakhstan's imports amounted to 29 million 410.1 thousand US dollars, and exports – 16 million 146.7 thousand US dollars.
Within the term from January to August of 2021 the bilateral trade volume totaled 26 million 290 thousand USD, from which Kazakh import was 19 million 725,8 thousand USD, while export volume was 6 million 564,5 thousand USD.
Pakistan's exports to Kazakhstan are based on precious stones and jewelry, textiles, chemical and pharmaceutical products, agricultural and food products, vegetables, fruits, shoes, leather goods, sports and medical goods, construction materials, etc.
Pakistani imports from Kazakhstan include construction and paint materials, raw materials, foodstuffs, machinery and equipment, fertilizers, coal, ferrous and non-ferrous metals, vegetable oils, etc.
Currently, the Iranian port of Bandar Abbas is used to deliver cargo from Pakistan to Kazakhstan and back by rail through Turkmenistan, while Afghanistan is used to transport cargo by road through Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan or the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous region of China via Kyrgyzstan.
In addition, more than 70 enterprises with the participation of Pakistani capital registered in Kazakhstan. In addition, the trade mission of Pakistan is located in Almaty.
Cooperation in the military field
Kazakhstan and Pakistan show some interest in developing a systematically arranged cooperation in military and military-technical domains. For this reason relationship between the defense ministries of two countries is one of the most developed and productive in the realm of Kazakh-Pak interstate cooperation in general.
The office of the Military attaché was opened at the Embassy of the Republic of Kazakhstan in Pakistan in 2002.
The Military Attaché is Colonel A.Usipbayev (in duty since July 24, 2019).
The bilateral cooperation is rested on the Memorandum of Understanding and Cooperation in the military field, which was signed on November 14, 2012 in Astana. According to the Memorandum, the main areas of cooperation are:
Issues of coordination and organization of events in the military sphere are within the competence of the Joint Kazakh-Pakistani military Commission, the next 5th meeting (staff negotiations) of which was held on November 12-13, 2019 in Pakistan.
As for cooperation in the field of military education, since 2005, 38 military personnel and employees of the armed forces of Kazakhstan have been trained in military educational institutions in Pakistan. 7 people completed the full course of training and 31 people - in the course training system.
The courses on conducting peacekeeping operations and military observers at the Center for International Peace and Stability in Islamabad are particularly popular among Kazakh military personnel.
Last time representatives of the Kazakh side took the training at these courses in March 2020.
A relatively new and promising area of Kazakh-Pakistani cooperation in the military field is the implementation of peacekeeping mission under the auspices of the United Nations, in which Pakistan has extensive experience.