On April 16 of this year, the University of World Economy and Diplomacy (UWED) hosted an open lecture by the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan to Uzbekistan Ahmed Farooq on the topic “Challenges and Opportunities for Cooperation between Central Asia and the South Asian Subcontinent”.

In his speech, the ambassador noted the caravan routes of the Great Silk Road, which for centuries connected the current territories of Uzbekistan and Pakistan, laying the historical foundation for modern partnership.

Then the diplomat moved on to the modern agenda, emphasizing the results of the February negotiations between the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev and the Prime Minister of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan Shahbaz Sharif in Tashkent: the leaders agreed to intensify political dialogue and increase trade turnover to 2 billion US dollars in the coming years. Bilateral trade is already growing: by the end of 2024, its volume reached $404 million, while seven years ago it did not exceed $40 million.

A. Farooq highlighted the key obstacle for Uzbekistan - the lack of access to the sea - and noted that this is why transit infrastructure projects are acquiring strategic importance. The central element of the speech was the Trans-Afghan Railway along the Termez - Mazar-i-Sharif - Kabul - Peshawar route; construction should begin in 2025 and, according to the calculations of the Ministry of Transport of Uzbekistan, will reduce the time of delivery of goods to Pakistani ports from the current ≈35 to 3-5 days.

The ambassador emphasized that the expansion of transport, energy and digital corridors between Central and South Asia will create a single economic space, increase the investment attractiveness of both regions and accelerate the exchange of technologies.

After the speech, Ahmed Farooq answered students' questions in detail.