Ans : Pak-Britain relations:
1. Pakistan and Britain have been shoulder to shoulder in different fields of life.
When Pakistan became independent it was made a member of
Commonwealth. When the treaty of CENTO was decided in 1995, both
Britain and Pakistan were included.
2. Britain gave a loan of Rs. 13 crore to Pakistan in 1959. In 1981, according to the
Indus Water Treaty, Britain bore some of the expenditure for alternate
arrangements for the river water. For the second 5 year plan of Pakistan, Britain
gave 45.5 crore rupees. Other than this in 1961, to buy the railway wagons,
around 4 crore rupees aid was given. Next year, two more loans were given
from which the first was 9 crore and the second was of 13 crore rupees. This
amount was given for buying a ship and buses and constructing a power station
near Hyderabad. In 1963, for industrial loans and investment, another loan of 13
crore rupees was given. In 1966, an agreement was signed between Pakistan
and Britain, according to which, on extremely soft conditions, Pakistan was
given a loan of 40 lakh pounds.
3. When Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto’s government was formed in Pakistan In 1971, he
announced the withdrawal from Commonwealth in 1972.
4. The Prime Minister of Pakistan, Muhammad Khan Junejo went on a tour Britain
in 1987. He said that the British help and cooperation for Pakistan was
praiseworthy. Prime Minister Junejo visited various cities of Britain and invited
the British industrialists to invest in Pakistan. He assured that the foreign
industrialists would get full security.
5. The Prime Minister of Pakistan Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto, also toured Britain
in 1989. During her a week-long tour, the nuclear programme of Pakistan
and Indo-Pak relations, beside the Afghanistan issue, were also discussed.
6. In 1989, Pakistan once again was made a member of the Commonwealth in
spite of Indian opposition.
7. In 2001, after the (9/11) terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center in
America, Pakistan became an ally of America and Britain in the fight against
terrorism. In 2002, both countries mutually agreed to cooperate with each
other to end terrorism and extremism.
8. In 2003, General Pervez Musharraf reached London and met the British
Prime Minister, Tony Blair. During the meeting with President Pervez
Musharraf, the British Prime Minister fully assured Pakistan of its
cooperation in resolving the Kashmir issue. In 2005, the commonwealth
meeting was held in a European democratic country Malta in which the
Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz represented Pakistan. At this moment, he
calcified, “Our participation in the war against terrorism and fundamentalism
proves that Pakistan is a peace-loving country”. In the earth quake of 2005
which affected the large areas of Pakistan and Azad Kashmir, England and
the other members of commonwealth aided Pakistan with open heart.
9. In the WORLD DONORS CONFERENCE held in Islamabad, the common
wealth announced further aid and expressed their warm existence with
Pakistan in this critical moment. After the elections of 18th February 2008, a
democratic government came into power in Pakistan. In 2010, the president
of Pakistan Asif Ali Zardari visited UK and met with English Prime Minister,
David Cameron. During this meeting, English Prime Minister, admitted the
long lasting relationships between the two countries because they were
based on mutual-interests. In 2011, during his visit in Pakistan, English
prime minister said that the enemy of Pakistan is the enemy of UK and his
friend is ours also. The two countries have strong relationship in all
departments including trade, education and culture.
10. In 2014, the prime minister of Pakistan and UK met in London. During this
meeting, both the prime minister analysed the bilateral relationship in
different departments including trade and defence, and resolved to
strengthen these relation further. Now there is an ongoing exchange of
political, trade cultural and educational delegations between the two
countries.