Reflections on Pakistan and Kuwait
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When I was serving in Pakistan’s embassy in Baghdad in the 70’s, and then as ambassador to Iran in the 90’s, I was touched to see that Kuwaiti ambassadors in both countries referred often to the pride their Emir (then foreign minister) took in recalling the role he had played as a friend of Pakistan’s at the 1974 Lahore Summit.
It was there that the Emir facilitated the recognition by the Islamic world of Bangladesh as an independent state, and securing recognition for Palestine Liberation Organization as the sole representative of the aspirations of the Palestinian people.
Today, it is heartening to note that on issues of concern to the Middle East and the Muslim world, the positions of Pakistan and Kuwait are similar. Both seek reconciliation and an end to conflicts.
In a sign of the strong relationship Kuwait and Pakistan enjoy, Pakistan’s President Arif Alvi was among the first heads of state to travel to Kuwait to offer his personal, and Pakistan’s, condolences on the passing of Emir Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad al-Sabah, earlier this year on Sept. 29.
The late Emir had served as Kuwait’s foreign minister for decades before he became emir in 2006. His work as a conciliator, perhaps as much as the alliance he cultivated with the US, led President Trump to award him the top honour of a Legion of Merit before his passing this year.
On bilateral economic relations, Kuwait, as is well known has been a long-time supplier of white oil products to Pakistan and has long had ambitions to build a refinery there designed specifically to use Kuwaiti crude.
What is perhaps less well known is that the Kuwait Foreign Petroleum Exploration Company has been investing in Pakistan and that, since 1987, its investment has exceeded $1 billion.
Najmuddin A. Shaikh
Pakistan State Oil continues to have a long-term contract under which it purchases High Speed Diesel and other white products from Kuwait and enjoys favourable payment terms.
What is perhaps less well known is that the Kuwait Foreign Petroleum Exploration Company (KUFPEC) has been investing in Pakistan and that, since 1987, its investment has exceeded $1 billion.
Quite clearly, KUFPEC recognizes that there is some merit to the claim by Pakistani experts that Pakistan has 347,848 million barrels of oil and 19,541 trillion cubic feet of gas that are recoverable.
Explorations aside, the 51 percent Kuwaiti-owned PARCO will also increase its investment in the pipelines-- to carry diesel and other white products upcountry from Karachi and Bin Qasim reducing traffic on our highway and the frequent theft that occurs when road tankers are used.
It is true that like other foreign nationals, Pakistanis in Kuwait-- who form one of the largest foreign communities there-- have also had to return to their homelands. About 5,500 were brought back by special flights but Pakistan is unique insofar that it has been asked to send its health workers to Kuwait to help cope with the virus outbreak.
It is my conjecture that the new Crown Prince will look to Pakistan for any additional manpower resources that his new economic diversification plans bring into being.
Perhaps more importantly, if our economic situation improves and if enlightened policies are put in place for foreign investment, Kuwait’s KUFPEC could be one of the companies that takes advantage of its existing base of investments to expand dramatically.
– Ambassador Najmuddin A. Shaikh is a former foreign secretary of Pakistan, and served as high commissioner to Canada, ambassador to Germany, US and Iran. He is a former member of the board of governors of the Institute of Strategic Studies in Islamabad and a founding member of the Karachi Council of Foreign Relations.
