Relations with Pakistan
NATO and Pakistan are engaged in dialogue and cooperation, where there is a common interest in promoting stability in the region and in defeating extremism.
- NATO and Pakistan started strengthening dialogue and cooperation following NATO assistance to the country in the wake of a massive earthquake in 2005.
- Pakistan is one of a range of countries beyond the Euro-Atlantic area, often referred to as “partners across the globe”.
- NATO offers selected training and education courses to Pakistani officers.
- High-level political exchanges have taken place over the years, including between past NATO Secretary Generals and high-level Pakistani political and military officials, and at the senior military leadership level.
Key areas of cooperation
Pakistan’s cooperation with NATO is mutually beneficial and includes:
Support for NATO-led operations and missions
- Pakistan supported the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), which completed its mission in Afghanistan in 2014, by allowing for the transit of ISAF supplies through Pakistan.
- Pakistan also supported the Resolute Support Mission in Afghanistan by opening ground and air lines of communication to resupply the mission.
Wider cooperation
- Pakistan participates in a counter-narcotics training project that NATO has been developing with the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime since early 2016. The project provides a unique, combined approach to countering drug trafficking by connecting the target countries of the drugs trade in Europe and North America with the source and transit countries. During training, officers from Central Asia and Pakistan can create links with their European and North American counterparts, which enable them to better combat cross-border narcotics trafficking.
- Pakistan’s Ministry of Defence officials have been able to participate in a series of education and training activities for a number of years, including on interoperability, defence planning and military medicine.
- Civil preparedness and disaster response capabilities have been a key area of cooperation. Pakistan requested international assistance three times through the Euro-Atlantic Disaster Response Coordination Centre (EADRCC). In total, 56 countries, NGOs and international organisations provided support to Pakistan in response to the devastating earthquake in October 2005, and severe flooding in 2010 and 2011. Pakistan itself offered assistance through the EADRCC to Türkiye and Bosnia and Herzegovina. The country also participated in the EADRCC exercises hosted by Bosnia and Herzegovina in 2017 and Serbia in 2018.
- Under NATO’s Science for Peace and Security Programme, Pakistan currently participates in one project, which focuses on developing effective public safety communication in the context of terrorist attacks, and on exploring the challenges and potential of a partnership approach to regional security, including cooperation with other international actors.