Pakistan–United Kingdom relations refer to the bilateral ties between the

Islamic Republic of Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...

and the

United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and No ...

. Both countries are members of the

Commonwealth of Nations The Commonwealth of Nations, simply referred to as the Commonwealth, is a political association of 56 member states, the vast majority of which are former territories of the British Empire. The chief institutions of the organisation are the C ...

, and the United Kingdom is home to a large Pakistani diaspora population. Until 1956, Pakistan was nominally part of the

British Empire The British Empire was composed of the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates, and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom and its predecessor states. It began with the overseas possessions and trading posts e ...

as a post-independence federal dominion in the aftermath of the

partition of British India The Partition of British India in 1947 was the change of political borders and the division of other assets that accompanied the dissolution of the British Raj in South Asia and the creation of two independent dominions: India and Pakistan. T ...

in 1947.

History

Formerly part of the

, Pakistan became independent from the UK in 1947 under the terms of the Indian Independence Act. At this point the

Dominion of Pakistan Between 14 August 1947 and 23 March 1956, Pakistan was an independent federal dominion in the Commonwealth of Nations, created by the passing of the Indian Independence Act 1947 by the British parliament, which also created the Dominion of ...

was still nominally part of the British Empire, until it became a separate Republic in 1956. Pakistan left the

in 1972 in protest of the recognition of

Bangladesh Bangladesh (}, ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the eighth-most populous country in the world, with a population exceeding 165 million people in an area of . Bangladesh is among the mo ...

i independence, before rejoining in 1989. In 2018, Pakistan and the United Kingdom signed the UK-Pakistan Prisoner Transfer Agreement allowing foreign prisoners in both countries to serve their sentences in home country.

Diplomatic relations

The United Kingdom and Pakistan have

High Commissioners High may refer to: Science and technology * Height * High (atmospheric), a high-pressure area * High (computability), a quality of a Turing degree, in computability theory * High (tectonics), in geology an area where relative tectonic uplift ...

, a position which often fulfills the role ambassador within the Commonwealth, in the other country. The current High Commissioner for the UK in Pakistan is Christian Turner, and Pakistan's High Commissioner to the UK is currently Mohammad Nafees Zakaria.

Economic relations

Since 1988 there has been a tax treaty in place between the two countries designed to prevent individuals or businesses being taxed for the same income twice, and to prevent tax avoidance. In 2012 the Prime Ministers of both countries launched a Trade and Investment Roadmap to increase trade between the countries.

Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan Chaudhary Nisar Ali Khan ( ur, ; born 31 July 1954) is a Pakistani politician who served as the Interior Minister from 2013 to 2017. He is currently an independent member-of the Provincial Assembly of Punjab - elected to represent PP-10 (Rawa ...

, Pakistani Interior Minister, recently stated bilateral visits between the countries would be arranged to support trade relations. A

Pakistan–Britain Advisory Council The Pakistan–Britain Advisory Group was established on 7 January 2002, during the visit of the British Prime Minister Tony Blair to Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a count ...

was setup in 2002 to look at how the two governments could facilitate trade and commercial connections between the two countries.

Military relations

Both nations were part of a

Cold War The Cold War is a term commonly used to refer to a period of geopolitical tension between the United States and the Soviet Union and their respective allies, the Western Bloc and the Eastern Bloc. The term '' cold war'' is used because t ...

alliance called the

Central Treaty Organization The Middle East Treaty Organization (METO), also known as the Baghdad Pact and subsequently known as the Central Treaty Organization (CENTO), was a military alliance of the Cold War. It was formed in 24 February 1955 by Iran, Iraq, Pakistan, Turk ...

, which the UK saw as important in containing the expansion of Soviet influence in the region, while Pakistan joined partly in the hope of attracting economic benefits from the West. Pakistan's intelligence agency the ISI was formed by British officers in their departure from India, the ISI maintains extensive links with UK intelligence services and operations inside the UK. The British government regards the

Baluchistan Liberation Army The Balochistan Liberation Army ( bal, بلۏچستان آجوییء لشکر; abbreviated BLA), also known as the Baloch Liberation Army, is a Baloch ethnonationalist militant organization based in Afghanistan. The BLA's first recorded activi ...

as a terrorist organization, it was proscribed in July 2006. Regular meetings and discussions on national security and counter-terrorism regularly take place between the governments of the two countries. Owing to their support for UK populations and local forces, settled British Pakistanis are more likely to feel that Pakistan should spend less on military and pay national debt instead. A large number of settled Pakistanis support the UK left wing including anti-war groups which propose selling all nuclear weapons.

References

External links

British High Commission Islamabad

High Commission for Pakistan London
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pakistan - United Kingdom Relations

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and ...