On November 22, 2011 a farewell reception to the outgoing ambassador of Uzbekistan to Pakistan H. E. Oybek Arif Usmanov was organized. Mr. Akram   Zaki, former secretary foreign affairs GoP and member IPS National Academic Council, Prof. Khurhsid Ahmad, Chairman IPS and former ambassador of Pakistan Mr. Ayaz Wazir spoke on the occasion.

Speaking on the occasion Mr. Oybek Arif Usmanov said that besides enjoying the geographical proximity Pakistan and Uzbekistan shared very strong historical, religious and cultural bonds which need to be exploited for furthering and cementing the bilateral relations to take them to the new heights. He assured the participants that he would continue working for further cementing the bilateral ties in his new capacity as Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Uzbekistan.

He underscored the need to have people to people contacts and institutional collaborations between the two countries in order to increase the level of trust between the two countries. “Lack of institutional links at the nongovernmental level creates a vacuum for some international organizations to fill in with some false or half true facts,” the ambassador maintained.

With regard to Afghanistan, the ambassador pointed out that Pakistan and Uzbekistan shared the common vision and approach to deal with Afghanistan imbroglio as there would be no military solution to this crises and an incremental approach led by the Afghans would lay the foundations for the resolution of this issue.

The ambassador lauded the efforts IPS is making in promoting policy oriented research, “This institute is indeed producing brilliant research studies on important issues including the regional security and relations with neighboring and regional countries and IPS’ liaison with the counterpart institutes in Uzbekistan would be very useful for both the countries” he added.

Mr. Akram Zaki said that in December 1991 Pakistan established diplomatic relations with Uzbekistan and in November 1992 Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO) was expanded to bring in the six newly independent central Asian states and Afghanistan with a view to make this organization a vibrant regional economic forum to deal with the challenges. He remarked that Uzbekistan had a great influence on Pakistan’s history, culture and traditional heritage.  “Mughal dynasty came from the south part of Uzbekistan and the Muslim luminaries like Imam Bukhari among many others also belonged to the land of Uzbekistan” he continued. He noted further that there were many common cultural manifestations between the two countries like Multan, one of Pakistan’s historic cities and Samarqand, Bukhara and Tashkent in Uzbekistan.

While appreciating the efforts of H.E. Oybek Arif, Mr. Ayaz Wazir, Pakistan’s former ambassador said that Ambassador Usmanov had played his significant role to solidify the bilateral relations and assured him that Pakistan would certainly reciprocate his efforts to strengthen these relations.

Chairman IPS Prof. Khurhsid Ahmad observed that while the power centers were shifting from the west to East and Asia is going to play a significant role in the years to come, the regional countries should ralize this change and play their role in the emerging situation. He commended the efforts made by the outgoing envoy to fortify bilateral relations, extended fullest support to establish institutional linkages and expressed best wishes for his new assignment.

In the end Dr. S. M. Koreishi a senior IPS Associate and one of the senior most former diplomats of Pakistan presented a souvenir to the Ambassador on behalf of IPS. DG IPS Khalid Rahman while thanking the participants expressed his confidence that notwithstanding his additional responsibilities owing to a higher position in the ministry H.E. Oybek Arif will continue his efforts for strengthening ties with Pakistan.