A Far Arc Made Nearer: Lukashenko’s Multi-Vector Policy Meets Pakistan
News of Belarus–Pakistan engagement has become more frequent of late: dialogue among lawmakers, governments and business — and, of course, between the two countries’ leaders.
A word first on geography, for the sake of context.
Pakistan is the world’s fifth most populous country, home to 240 million people. It is rich in resources, with major deposits of gold, copper and coal. Sizeable new reserves of oil and gas have recently been identified. Its neighbors include India, Iran and China — markets already familiar to Belarus.
One more figure matters. The distance between Minsk and Islamabad is more than 4,000 kilometers as the crow flies, and more than 5,000 by road. In high politics and trade, that is a minor detail. The pace of visits proves the point. In November 2024 Pakistan received Alexander Lukashenko; less than six months later, in May 2025, Belarus hosted Shehbaz Sharif. Meetings of this kind are invariably productive. What follows is work for ministries, enterprises and businesspeople — a well-established mechanism.
Dmitry Shvaiba, media expert:
“Cooperation between Belarus and Pakistan is strategic in nature. It is founded on the Treaty of Friendship and Cooperation. Pakistan interests us as an enormous market for Belarusian goods. That is precisely our niche: we can compete freely in supplies from our machine-building plants. Pakistan is interested in our fertilizers and agricultural technologies. We can also be mutually useful in meeting Belarus’s need for labor in priority sectors of the economy. In that sense the prospects are serious. Despite the distance between our countries, we have an interest in access to the world’s oceans and in this state’s port infrastructure. The strategic goods we supply to the global market are fully in demand in Pakistan’s economy.”
The recent visits have made it possible to identify, with some precision, where Belarus and Pakistan can be of use to each other. The economy comes first: from foodstuffs — including quality fruit — to pharmaceuticals, textiles and machine building. The Belarus tractor has been known in Pakistan for sixty years. It is known and trusted. The next stage, therefore, is joint assembly. Belarus is also ready to supply mounted and trailed implements and to share its experience across the full range of agricultural work.
Our approach is well known: we are prepared to work as equals. We arrive as partners, with equality and respect as our values. That applies to the whole region. Nearby, for example, is Myanmar — another relationship that would repay a longer discussion. The essential point is that this work yields concrete political and, above all, economic results. That is what a multi-vector policy and the Global Majority look like in practice.
Belarusian goods are well known in Pakistan, Vietnam and Myanmar. We have put forward a number of initiatives within the Shanghai Cooperation Organization. Our President is received warmly, even in a family spirit. Once that would have seemed improbable. The head of state set the course clearly: work must be done on the far arc. If everyone does that work well in his or her own place, distant Asia will become distinctly closer.