H.E. Tarik Ali Khan, High Commissioner of Canada to Pakistan

Salaam aleikum!

I am delighted to serve as High Commissioner of Canada to the Islamic Republic of Pakistan.

Canada and Pakistan have a proud history of friendship and cooperation. But now is the time to take the Canada-Pakistan relationship to a new level. Here are a few of the ingredients that will help make that happen.

First, our bilateral relationship rests on a solid foundation. In 1947, Canada was one of the first countries to recognize Pakistan as a sovereign state and establish diplomatic relations. Canada supported major energy projects like the Karachi Nuclear Power Plant (KANUPP) built by GE Canada in 1972 and it provided the first development assistance to the Aga Khan University School of Nursing in Karachi and the Aga Khan Rural Support Programme (AKRSP) in the Northern Areas during the 1980s. We continue to support Pakistan’s efforts in rural development, health services (including polio eradication) and gender equality. And we will continue to provide emergency humanitarian assistance during natural disasters, recognizing Pakistan’s particular vulnerabilities resulting from climate change. We cooperate on mobility, border security, transnational crime, counter terrorism as well as anti-narcotics and regional security. And we look forward to growing our defence cooperation in the years ahead.

As Canada seeks to diversify trade and investment in Asian markets, Pakistan offers an important new market. Our bilateral trade reached $1 billion in 2022, but there is plenty of room for growth. With its population of 250 million – the majority of whom are under the age of 30 – and its growing middle class, Pakistan offers space for Canadian businesses to export goods and services in sectors such as agriculture, renewable energy and critical minerals.

Food security is a particularly important area where we can collaborate. Canada is one of the most reliable sources of agricultural commodities globally. We are both food producers at a time when the world needs climate-adapted agriculture and agri-food value chains. Pakistan is already a primary destination for Canadian exports like canola, pulses, and soybeans. Indeed, much of the dal and chana that Pakistanis consume every day is grown in the fields of Saskatchewan, Manitoba and Alberta. We look forward to more cooperation in the value-added agriculture, livestock, and agri-food sectors.

But to truly expand our trade and investment relationship, we must assure prospective businesses and investors that their interests will be protected. I look forward to concluding our negotiations on a Canada-Pakistan Foreign Investment Promotion and Protection Agreement (FIPA) which will establish the rules for a predictable and stable investment climate and ensure that foreign investors receive fair treatment.

The final ingredient in growing our bilateral relationship is people. There are now over 300,000 Canadians of Pakistani origin. Well-established across Canada from coast to coast, they have distinguished themselves in academia, business, and politics. Every year, Canadian universities also receive over 4,000 Pakistani students. Many of them may end up settling in Canada after their studies, becoming part of our diverse social fabric. Others return to Pakistan as proud alumni of Canadian universities. Indeed, there are more than 9,000 Canadians now living in Pakistan, dual nationals with Canadian education, professional experience and entrepreneurial spirit. Others will become what I call “back-and-forthers", travelling regularly across the ocean with joint ventures and businesses that link both of our countries. These are the pioneers of our deeper trade relationship, people as comfortable in Toronto as they are in Karachi, equally at home in Calgary or Sialkot --- home of the world class soccer balls we will be using when Canada co-hosts FIFA 2026!  

I hope you are as excited as I am about the potential to grow this well-founded relationship with an increased focus on trade and people-to-people ties.

Let’s build this together!

Shukriya.