Forum Pakistan

Diplomatic relations between Pakistan and the Federal Republic of Germany (FDR) were established five years after the establishment of Pakistan in 1951. Incredibly the state of war between Pakistan, a dominion of the British Commonwealth, and Germany ended only in 1952. The political relations between Pakistan and Germany have been trouble free except during the 1971 crisis, when FDR supported the secession of *East Pakistan, and in 1998 when Pakistan went nuclear. Pakistan had been subject to the Hallstein Doctrine, which prevented states with the pro-west FDR from recognizing the pro-Soviet German Democratic Republic, GDR. Only in the aftermath of its own dismemberment, Pakistan recognized the GDR. After its re-unification, Germany imposed sanctions on Pakistan following the 1998 nuclear tests, but these sanctions were lifted on 1 July 2003.

To maintain cordial relations, the leaders of both countries have visited each other repeatedly. In 1961 and 1965 President Ayub *Khan paid a visit to the FDR. Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali *Bhutto visited in 1976, General Ziaul *Haq paid a visit in 1980, Prime Minister Muhammad Khan *Junejo in 1986. In 2004 President Pervez *Musharraf and Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder exchanged visits. The previous German leaders to visit Pakistan were President Heinrich Lubke (GDR) in 1962 and Dr. Helmut Kohl (FDR) in 1984.

Germany has emerged as the third largest donor of economic aid to Pakistan after the US and Japan since the early 1950s and the second most important trading partner in Europe after the United Kingdom and the sixth largest trading partner in the world. German assistance for Pakistan is made available by way of funds, soft term loans, commercial loans and technical assistance. German investment in Pakistan is in the form of direct equity participation, supplies of credit and transfer of technology. Its investments in Pakistan have mainly been in the electro-chemical, pharmaceutical and machine-building industries and in the banking sector. German funds have been given in essential fields such as the building of the infrastructure in energy resources, irrigation, transportation, telecommunications, and commodity supply like raw materials and spare parts for industry. In 1972 the Government of FDR agreed to provide grant assistance to the Government of Pakistan for financing 13 projects under an umbrella agreement for technical cooperation. Besides this, the following bilateral agreements are in force between the two countries: Air Transport Agreement, Investment Promotion Agreement, Double Taxation Agreement and Framework Agreement on Technical cooperation. Germany has also offered technical assistance to improve the investment climate in Pakistan and the quality of Pakistani products, also to promote the marketing of goods to the European Markets. Presently over 32 joint venture projects are operating successfully. These provide jobs for more than 4,000 qualified Pakistani citizens.

German military officials have been offered training facilities in Pakistan's Staff and Command College and the National Defence College. Germany is providing technical assistance as grant-in-aid for projects in different fields such as basic education, basic health services, development of hydel energy, promoting agriculture, rural development, vocational training, power generation, environmental protection, promotion of small and medium sized enterprises and telecommunications. Germany is also co-financing the Ghazi Barotha Hydro-Power plant and Kot Abhu Gas Turbine power station. The Pakistan-German Development cooperation began in 1961, and Germany has provided over DM five billion for joint development activities in Pakistan in the social sector, NGOs and environmental areas. Trade relations between West
Germany and Pakistan were established in 1955. A trade agreement granting each other Most Favoured Nation (MFN) status was concluded in 1957 and a Pakistan-German Trade Committee was set up in 1973. The main German imports from Pakistan are garments, textiles, leather products, carpets, hosiery and knitwear items, food items, surgical instruments and spectacle frames. The main imports from Germany are machinery, engineering goods, chemicals and chemical products, iron and iron products, electrical and non-electrical goods, optical goods and vehicles. Close relations began when a German team of mountaineers visited Pakistan in 1950 to scale cultural the mountain K2. The German Pakistan Forum (GPF) was established in 1957. It has been working towards improving human, cultural, commercial and political relations between the two countries. In northern Pakistan, Germany shaped two institutionalized projects: the Pakistan-German Study Group, which had been researching and documenting the rock inscriptions along the *Karakorum Highway, and a cultural-cum-scientific project named Cultural Area Karakorum (CAM) in which cultural changes in Pakistan's mountainous regions have been investigated.
From the late fifties onwards the DAAD (Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst) has been providing scholarships together with the reputed Alexander Von Humboldt Foundation. Some other non-governmental organizations and associations include the PakistanGerman Cultural Association, Pakistan- German Forum, the Hans Seidel Foundation, and the Friedrich Ebert Stiftung are developing closer cultural and academic cooperation between the two countries. Germany is also keen to promote its language. In Pakistan there are two branches operating, in Karachi and Lahore, by the name of Goethe Institute. The institute, besides holding language classes, presents film evenings, talks, theatrical performances and exhibitions of the works of German writers translated into *Urdu. Sir Muhammad *Iqbal, poet philosopher of Pakistan received his doctorate from Heidelberg, leading scholars from both countries to establish cultural relations. The most prominent german scholar was Annemarie *Schirnmel and, from Pakistan, M. Ikram *Chughtai and Saeed Akhtar Durrani.

BIBLIOGRAPHY: A.A. Kadeer, Naveed Ahmad Tahir (eds.) 'Pakistan-Europe Ties', Karachi, 1988.