Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...

and

Tajikistan Tajikistan, officially the Republic of Tajikistan, is a landlocked country in Central Asia. Dushanbe is the capital city, capital and most populous city. Tajikistan borders Afghanistan to the Afghanistan–Tajikistan border, south, Uzbekistan to ...

are close allies. The two countries are only apart at their closest point. The

Wakhan Corridor The Wakhan Corridor (; ) is a narrow strip of territory in the Badakhshan province of Afghanistan. This corridor stretches eastward, connecting Afghanistan to Xinjiang, China. It also separates the Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Region of Tajiki ...

is a narrow strip of territory in northeastern

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. It is bordered by Pakistan to the Durand Line, east and south, Iran to the Afghanistan–Iran borde ...

that extends to

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

and separates Tajikistan from Pakistan.Mughal, M. A. Z. (2013). "Pamir Alpine Desert and Tundra." In: Biomes & Ecosystems, vol. 1, pp. 978-980. Robert Warren Howarth (ed.). Ipswich, MA: Salem Press.

Country comparison

History of relations

Relations between the two states were established when the republic of Tajikistan became independent following the collapse of the USSR. Trade and cooperation has steadily grown between the two nations, with several summits being held on how to improve bilateral trade. In March 2008 Said Saidbaig, the Tajik Ambassador, announced that his country would be able to export cheap electricity to Pakistan and

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

. In 2019, Pakistan announced visa-on-arrival facilities for Tajik passport holders.

Tajiks in Pakistan

There are at least 1.2 million Tajiks living in Pakistan. In recent years, many

Tajiks Tajiks (; ; also spelled ''Tadzhiks'' or ''Tadjiks'') is the name of various Persian-speaking Eastern Iranian groups of people native to Central Asia, living primarily in Afghanistan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. Even though the term ''Tajik'' ...

from Tajikistan have settled in Pakistan due to the economic conditions prevalent in their home country, many have settled in the northern city of Ishkuman. In 1979, with the invasion by the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

, a large number of Tajik refugees from that country came and settled throughout Pakistan. Exact numbers are difficult to ascertain as many don't have official identity cards or are counted as being Chitrali or

Gilgit Gilgit (; Shina language, Shina: ; ) is a city in Pakistani-administered Gilgit-Baltistan, Gilgit–Baltistan in the disputed Kashmir region.The application of the term "administered" to the various regions of Kashmir and a mention of the Kas ...

i in official census figures. There also large number of Tajiks from Afghanistan that have settled in Pakistan permanently. Many Tajik refugees from Tajikistan lived in Pakistan and some of them returned to Tajikistan.

Strategic commitments

In November 2015, a meeting was held at Governor house

Islamabad Islamabad (; , ; ) is the capital city of Pakistan. It is the country's tenth-most populous city with a population of over 1.1 million and is federally administered by the Pakistani government as part of the Islamabad Capital Territory. Bu ...

, the Tajik President and Pakistani Prime Minister affirmed plans to connect Pakistan and Tajikistan through road networks, such as from

Chitral Chitral () is a city situated on the Kunar River, Chitral River in northern area of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan. It serves as the capital of the Lower Chitral District, and was previously the capital of Chitral District, and before ...

- Ishkashim-

Dushanbe Dushanbe is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Tajikistan. , Dushanbe had a population of 1,564,700, with this population being largely Tajiks, Tajik. Until 1929, the city was known in Russian as Dyushambe, and from 1929 to 1961 as St ...

. In June 2021, President of Tajikistan visited Pakistan on the request of Pakistan's Prime Minister and both countries signed memorandums of understanding (MOU) for cooperation in various sectors, including the sale of Pakistan-manufactured arms to Tajikistan. On September 17, 2021

Prime Minister of Pakistan The prime minister of Pakistan (, Roman Urdu, romanized: Wazīr ē Aʿẓam , ) is the head of government of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. Executive authority is vested in the prime minister and his chosen Cabinet of Pakistan, cabinet, desp ...

Imran Khan Imran Ahmed Khan Niazi (born 5 October 1952) is a Pakistani politician, philanthropist, and former cricketer who served as the 19th prime minister of Pakistan from August 2018 until April 2022. He was the founder of the political party Pak ...

, announced that Pakistan will upgrade the bilateral relations to the level of a long-term strategic partnership. In this regard, the two leaders further agreed to work towards signing of a Strategic Partnership Agreement. The leaders accorded particular focus on further strengthening of reliable and constructive high-level contacts, inter-parliamentary ties, defence and security relations between the two countries. The two leaders underscored the importance of expansion of mutually beneficial economic and trade cooperation, improvement of investment and trade environment between the two countries.

Cultural relations

During the Soviet era, Tajik and Pakistani intellectuals collaborated on themes of anti-colonialism, drawing from their shared

Persianate A Persianate society is a society that is based on or strongly influenced by the Persian language, culture, literature, art and/or identity. The term "Persianate" is a neologism credited to Marshall Hodgson. In his 1974 book, ''The Venture of I ...

heritage.

References

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