Last week, Indian Prime Minister visited Uzbekistan and got a number of deals including energy cooperation. Now, President of Uzbekistan Islam Karimov came to Pakistan today and signed a few deals with Pakistan. Mr. Karimov came to Pakistan after 14 years and trade issues are the top priority for the countries at this moment. Being a landlocked country, Uzbekistan is eager to use Pakistani seaports for its exporting activities and Pakistani President General Pervez Musharraf has given a nod to this idea. On the other hand, Pakistan is eager to expand rail and inland trade communications with Central Asia. The two countries signed six memorandums of understanding and one protocol today. To know about them just visit this website.
Bilateral trade between the two countries is still not much but it is changing. For example, last year bilateral trade increased by 50%. Expansion of banking ties is also on the card.
We will see more cooperation between Uzbekistan and Pakistan in the coming days- especially in the energy sector. Islam Karimov has been successful in getting India and Pakistan beside him at a time when Uzbekistan is losing friends very fast in the international scenario.
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