EU-Pakistan Ties Deepen Beyond Trade Into Geopolitics
Get the Geopolitics newsletter
Daily geopolitics — wars, elections, sanctions, the diplomatic moves that move markets. Free.
- Pakistan and the EU are moving into a more strategic phase, signaled by the 8th Pakistan-EU Strategic Dialogue in Islamabad and a meeting between Deputy PM and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar and EU High Representative Kaja Kallas.
- The EU is reassessing external partnerships in response to Russia's war in Ukraine, instability across the Middle East, insecurity in the Red Sea, and renewed supply-chain resilience concerns.
- Pakistan's position at the crossroads of South Asia, Central Asia, the Middle East, and the Arabian Sea makes it a candidate for energy corridors, regional trade, and maritime security as Brussels expands the Global Gateway initiative and Indo-Pacific engagement.
- Pakistan's two decades of counterterrorism operations and the post-NATO-withdrawal situation in Afghanistan, the article argues, should factor into European assessments beyond GSP+ governance conditionality.
- Engagements between Dar and Kallas now extend beyond trade and investment into climate resilience, education, migration, digital cooperation, and regional diplomacy, the article says.
- Pakistan has raised concerns with European governments about separatist and extremist organizations operating within European jurisdictions that the piece says exploit democratic freedoms for disinformation and financial support.
- Competition with China's Belt and Road Initiative is expanding the geopolitical significance of countries linking Europe with Asia and the Gulf, the article contends, positioning Pakistan as a potential bridge to a multipolar order.
Why it matters: The piece makes the case that Pakistan's position linking South Asia, Central Asia, the Gulf, and the Arabian Sea is directly relevant to the EU's supply-chain, maritime security, and Indo-Pacific priorities. Treating the relationship primarily through GSP+ trade conditionality, the author argues, leaves Brussels without a strategic partner on connectivity corridors where China's BRI is already active. The article signals that the Dar-Kallas meeting and Islamabad dialogue reflect a concrete, not theoretical, policy shift.
