Pakistan enjoys very warm brotherly relations with all Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) members, which are embedded in history and religion. The GCC region has remained the most important pillar of Pakistan’s foreign policy. Pakistan has an abiding interest in geopolitical, geostrategic, and geo-economic happenings and developments, both positive and negative, in the region. Additionally, Pakistan enjoys well-established trade, defense, and people-to-people ties with all regional countries.
Bahrain is one of the important countries in the GCC region. Pakistan and Bahrain have established a Joint Ministerial Commission (JMC) at the Foreign Ministers’ level to discuss comprehensive trade and economic ties, make agreed decisions, and supervise the implementation of these decisions. So far, five sessions of the JMC have been held, the last being in July 2021. In all fairness, Pakistan and GCC member countries represent not only continuity in their brotherly relations but also a strategically strengthening of an already time-tested relationship.
In this context, Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif’s recent two-day official visit to Bahrain has assumed special significance. Upon reaching Manama to a warm welcome, the PM’s meeting with King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa was meaningful and productive, as both sides reaffirmed their commitment to further elevating the prevailing bilateral cooperation across various sectors.
Both the PM and the King of Bahrain, during their in-depth bilateral discussions, reviewed the strength of their longstanding partnership and reaffirmed their commitment to further deepen bilateral ties grounded in shared faith and mutual respect. They noted the encouraging momentum in bilateral relations and agreed to broaden cooperation in political, economic, defense, and cultural fields.
There is every possibility of exporting more manpower from Pakistan not only to Bahrain but to the Gulf region as a whole.
On this occasion, the PM reiterated Pakistan’s resolve to enhance ties and expressed appreciation for Bahrain’s support in the establishment of King Hamad University in Islamabad. He highlighted his country’s keen desire to further expand trade and investment and expressed readiness to advance bilateral trade under the GCC free trade agreement. He also thanked Bahrain’s leadership for the continued hospitality extended to more than 150,000 Pakistanis residing in Bahrain and working in various fields.
While highlighting the significance of their longstanding defense cooperation, the two leaders agreed to further strengthen bilateral cooperation in technical training, logistics, manpower, and defense production.
Economic cooperation between the two countries figured prominently in talks in Manama as the visiting Pakistani leader met with Bahrain’s Crown Prince/Prime Minister, Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, and reaffirmed their resolve to continue making sincere and committed efforts to further strengthen bilateral cooperation between the two brotherly countries. The PM praised Bahrain’s leadership for its role in bolstering bilateral relations and extended facilitation regarding the country’s election as a non-permanent member of the U.N. Security Council for two years. Highlighting the prospects for enhancing bilateral trade, the PM stated that Pakistan aimed to raise the current U.S. $500 million trade volume to U.S. $1 billion within the next three years. During discussions on defense and security cooperation, both the Pakistani and Bahraini leaders agreed to expand mutual cooperation in training, cybersecurity, defense production, and information exchange.
While addressing Bahraini investors and business leaders, the PM showcased Pakistan’s sweeping economic overhaul blueprint and invited them to visit Pakistan to explore the opportunities available in food security, IT, construction, mining and minerals, healthcare, renewable energy, and tourism sectors.
It is worth mentioning that the historical brotherly warmth in the bilateral relations between Pakistan and Bahrain has never been questioned at any level. The discussions in Manama between the visiting Pakistani PM and Bahraini leadership have appreciably and welcome focused on further expanding bilateral trade, investment, defense partnerships, and cultural ties-obviously signaling a more future-oriented approach that is closely aligned with the sustainable development goals and economic cooperation prioritized by the top leadership of both Pakistan and Bahrain.
As noted by the PM during his discussions with the Bahraini King, a significant number of Pakistanis reside in Bahrain and positively contribute to strengthening Bahrain’s economy. There is every possibility of exporting more manpower from Pakistan not only to Bahrain but to the Gulf region as a whole. Pakistan and Bahrain can quite expectedly develop a collaborative framework for training Pakistani manpower in specific sectors.
The writer is a Lahore-based freelance journalist, columnist and retired Deputy Controller (News), Radio Pakistan, Islamabad, and can be reached at [zahidriffat@gmail. com (mailto:[email protected])