Bilateral Bilateral may refer to any concept including two sides, in particular: *Bilateria, bilateral animals *Bilateralism, the political and cultural relations between two states *Bilateral, occurring on both sides of an organism ( Anatomical terms of l ...

relations exist between

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

and

Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...

. Former Pakistani President

Pervez Musharraf Pervez Musharraf (11 August 1943 – 5 February 2023) was a Pakistani general and politician who served as the tenth president of Pakistan from 2001 to 2008. Prior to his career in politics, he was a four-star general and appointed as ...

having visited Australia in 2005, former Australian Prime Minister

John Howard John Winston Howard (born 26 July 1939) is an Australian former politician who served as the 25th prime minister of Australia from 1996 to 2007. He held office as leader of the Liberal Party of Australia. His eleven-year tenure as prime min ...

also visited Pakistan in 2005. In 2011, there were 30,000

Pakistani Australians Pakistani Australians () are Australians who are of Pakistani descent or heritage. Most Pakistani Australians are Muslims by religion, although there are also sizeable Christian, Hindu and other minorities. History in Australia An anthropologic ...

Overview

The relations between the two countries have been friendly, with former Pakistani President

having visited Australia in 2005 and the then Prime Minister of Australia,

, having visited Pakistan in 2005 as well, following the

2005 Kashmir earthquake An earthquake occurred at on 8 October 2005 in Azad Jammu and Kashmir, a territory under Pakistan. Its epicenter was 19 km northeast of the city of Muzaffarabad, and 90 km north north-east of Islamabad, the capital city of Pakistan, ...

which had targeted the northern areas of Pakistan. He also announced 500 new scholarships for Pakistani students to study in Australia. Over 500 scholarships have been given to Pakistani students for postgraduate studies in Australia.

Pakistani Australians

According to the Department of Immigration and Citizenship of the Government of Australia, the 2011 Australian census states that there were 30,221 Pakistan-born people in Australia, an increase of 77.8 per cent from the 2006 Census. The 2011 distribution by state and territory showed New South Wales had the largest number, with 13,382, followed by Victoria (9187), Western Australia (2521) and Queensland (2357). According to the Pakistan Embassy in Canberra, the number of Pakistanis in Australia is closer to 70,000 as the Department of Immigration and Citizenship does not include the children of Pakistanis who are born in Australia.

Trade

Pakistan's exports to Australia reached their peak in 2011 by reaching US$167 million while imports in the same period reached US$437 million. Both countries vowed to take the bilateral trade to US$1 billion with some concerted efforts at public and private levels.

Military relations

Australian High Commissioner to Pakistan George Timothy

Both Australia and Pakistan were a part of the South East Asian version of

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO ; , OTAN), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental organization, intergovernmental Transnationalism, transnational military alliance of 32 Member states of NATO, member s ...

called

SEATO The Southeast Asia Treaty Organization (SEATO) was an international organization for collective defense in Southeast Asia created by the Southeast Asia Collective Defense Treaty signed in September 1954 in Manila, Philippines. The formal insti ...

, also known as a 'mutual defence pact'. The two countries have held bilateral defence and security talks since 2006. The 1.5 Track Security Dialogue was initiated in 2010. The talks involve the two governments, while the 1.5 Track Dialogue involves a number of key decision makers and think tanks from both sides. Defence cooperation has increased considerably as a result of the two mechanisms. The focus of cooperation has been on training programmes.

Sporting relations

The two countries are particularly known for their long sporting history in

cricket Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven players on a cricket field, field, at the centre of which is a cricket pitch, pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two Bail (cr ...

, and the contests between their national sides.

Diplomatic missions

The High Commission of Australia in

Islamabad Islamabad (; , ; ) is the capital city of Pakistan. It is the country's tenth-most populous city with a population of over 1.1 million and is federally administered by the Pakistani government as part of the Islamabad Capital Territory. Bu ...

is the diplomatic mission of Australia to Pakistan. The High Commission was established in

Karachi Karachi is the capital city of the Administrative units of Pakistan, province of Sindh, Pakistan. It is the List of cities in Pakistan by population, largest city in Pakistan and 12th List of largest cities, largest in the world, with a popul ...

in 1948, with Australia's first High Commissioner to Pakistan appointed in 1949. When the Pakistani government moved its capital from Karachi to Islamabad in 1966, the Australian High Commission also moved.

External links

*National Geographic Newswatch: Australia and Pakistan: A Neglected Relationship

*Pakistan Australia Friendship Association

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Australia-Pakistan relations Bilateral relations of Pakistan