With their respective capitals separated by 5,000 kilometers and possibly only hundreds of residents in each other’s countries, Pakistan and Ukraine have a hard time forging close relationships and boosting trade to meaningful amounts for both struggling economies.
There’s no free trade agreement between the nations and there’s never been a summit at the presidential or prime minister level.
It’s even hard to generate tourism. Visas are required on both sides (although Pakistan’s rules are friendlier). There are no direct flights — only those going through Doha, the capital of Qatar, or Istanbul.
But Pakistan’s Ambassador to Ukraine Noel Israel Khokhar, on the job for less than a year, has reenergized the relationship with high-level trade delegations, visits, cultural events and tourist promotion. Recently, the foreign ministers of both nations talked by phone. “The aim is to bring people together, engage them, let them meet each other, talk to each other and develop confidence and understanding,” the ambassador explained.
In generating momentum for a closer relationship, the retired lieutenant general — who served 36 years in Pakistan’s armed forces — is tapping his friends in high places, including for help in putting on a squash tournament between players of both nations this weekend in Kyiv.
While annual bilateral trade is less than $500 million between the two nations, it “could reach $1 billion,” Khokhar said, if the right steps are taken. He sees particular hope in boosting Pakistani exports to Ukraine of sports apparel and surgical instruments.
Pakistan, meanwhile, is trying to entice investment from abroad through the creation of special economic zones. To those ends, the ambassador has organized regular visits by trade delegations. He’s dusted off a long-dormant Pakistani-Ukrainian joint trade commission, which languished for nine years after its launch.
He’s supported trips by journalists to Pakistan by Ukrainian journalists, including 1+1 presenter Dmitry Komarov’s “The World Inside Out” program and another tourism program called “Heads & Tails.”
He wants to translate some of the episodes into Urdu and English to attract more viewers. He also wants to bring Pakistani journalists to Ukraine. The ambassador engineered the highest-level visit to date when Pakistani Chief of the Army Staff Qamar Javed Bajwa visited Kyiv on May 18, 2021.
Forbes ranked Bajwa as the 68th most powerful person in the world and de facto the most powerful person in Pakistan, a major customer of Ukrainian-made tanks. The event was hosted by ex-Kyiv Post publisher Mohammad Zahoor, the most prominent Pakistani businessperson in Ukraine, with entertainment provided by his wife, singer-actress Kamaliya.
Ukraine, for its part, will have to overlook some key aspects of Pakistan’s “peace within and peace without” foreign policy to have better relations. Islamabad, with a history of armed conflicts and territorial disputes with neighboring India, keeps a policy of strict neutrality with respect to Russia’s war against Ukraine since 2014 — refusing even to declare that Kremlin-occupied Crimea, taken in a military invasion, rightfully belongs to Ukraine.
Consequently, he said, Pakistan does not apply sanctions against the Kremlin. “We are not in a position to impose sanctions on anyone,” the ambassador said. “Even if we were in such a position, we will not go that route.”
The relationship in one key area — Pakistani purchases of Ukrainian-made military hardware — is flourishing again, the ambassador said. He credits Oleg Urusky, the deputy prime minister in charge of strategic industry, and Ukroboronprom CEO Yurii Husiev.
“With the new team, our engagement is much stronger, positive and better. They are focused on living by the agreements signed and expanding the scope of defense relationships,” Khokhar said.
Khokhar has not forgotten to emphasize cultural ties. The 121st birth anniversary on July 2, 2021, of Muhammad Asad — born as Leopold Weiss in Lviv, Ukraine — was celebrated. Works of the journalist, traveler, writer, linguist, political theorist, diplomat, Islamic scholar and worker of the Pakistan Movement were translated into Ukrainian and promoted at a book fair in Kyiv and at an event in Lviv.
The lack of recognition of some Ukrainian university degrees by Pakistan is an obstacle to greater numbers of students studying in Ukraine. So is the Ukrainian practice of requiring agents to conduct admissions, rather than universities directly. He remains bothered by Ukraine’s bureaucratic and unfriendly visa regime for Pakistani travelers, some of whom have been denied entry upon arrival despite holding valid visas.
The problem eased, he said, with the help of ex-Interior Minister Arsen Avakov. By contrast, he said, Ukrainians can apply for a cheap tourist visa to Pakistan online, making travel there much easier.
“Ukrainians should reciprocate by easing their visa regime,” he said. Before becoming ambassador, he had visited Ukraine one time, in 2009, he said.
The married father of three adult children is a sports enthusiast. He loves golfing, a game for which Ukraine offers limited options.
“I miss my golf,” he said. But he engages in other “great opportunities to meet people,” including art and cultural events such as ballet and operas.
“Ukraine has a rich history,” he said.
Khokhar is Pakistan’s ninth ambassador to Ukraine. All except the first had military careers, a reflection of the priorities and the importance of the military as an institution in Pakistan. He is looking forward to the Sept. 18–19 Pakistan-Ukraine Squash Friendship Cup at the 5th Element Club in Kyiv. Prizes will be awarded on the evening of Sept. 19.
Besides emphasizing the benefits of sport, he said: “We are also doing this to mark 30 years of our friendship with Ukraine.”
