Pakistan’s Strategic Turn at the ECO Summit: A Vision for Regional Leadership

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s travel to Baku to attend the 17th Economic Cooperation Organisation (ECO) Summit is a turning point in the course of Pakistan’s foreign policy. As the global order continues to become more regional and substitutes for current trade blocs, Pakistan’s positive orientation towards ECO is a clear message: Islamabad will lead a regional agenda founded on connectivity, energy security, and climate resilience. This is not symbolism but a deliberate attempt to strengthen Pakistan’s regional diplomacy, open new economic avenues, and emerge as a true stakeholder of Eurasian cooperation. The summit, sponsored by Azerbaijan with the theme “New ECO Vision for a Sustainable and Climate Resilient Future,” provides an opportunity for Pakistan to launch a multi-faceted regional policy.

Prime Minister Sharif, accompanied by top ministers such as Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar and Special Assistant Tariq Fatemi, is sitting down today with a definite agenda, to drive stronger trade relations, energy partnerships, and climate action regionally. The presence of Pakistan’s entire delegation reflects a resolve to closer coordination with ECO partners, a 10-member group from Turkey to Central and South Asia. It is opportune and astute of Pakistan to come in.  Pakistan needs to seek new channels of trade and investment. ECO is one such channel. The membership includes energy-rich countries like Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan, emerging countries like Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, and transit countries like Iran and Turkey.

For Pakistan, the prospects of increased exports, low-cost energy imports, and foreign investment through regional interaction are pragmatic and essential. Energy cooperation is at the forefront of Pakistan’s ECO drive. Pakistan seeks more stable, long-term energy relationships, especially in hydrocarbons, gas, and renewables. Azerbaijan, whose high-value energy sector and interest in investing in the infrastructure of Pakistan, is at the heart of this offer.

Pakistani state institutions and Azerbaijan’s SOCAR have already started discussions to unlock the potential of energy trade agreements. More such connectivity may not only diversify Pakistan’s energy mix but also cut costs and save the country its energy import bill, imperative for macroeconomic stability.

Climate resilience is also one of Pakistan’s pillars of engagement. The world’s most climate-risked country, Pakistan is now a voice of climate justice in the Global South. The devastating 2022 floods, displacing millions and resulting in more than $30 billion economic losses, put Pakistan at the global climate platform. PM Sharif will call for collective adaptation to climate by ECO member states in Baku. These include water management knowledge sharing, disaster response, and access to climate finance globally.

No less important is the diplomatic value of the trip. The side meetings of the prime minister with local leaders offer Pakistan a chance to increase bilateral ties, particularly with Azerbaijan. The two countries have shared a traditionally cordial relationship, Pakistan was one of the first countries to recognize Azerbaijan’s independence, and both countries mutually recognize each other in international organizations. The new heightened collaboration in defense and trade is reflective of a larger effort to align strategic interests. Sharif’s travel, even to such symbolic cities as Shusha and Khankendi, confirms this nascent alliance as reality and indicates Pakistan’s commitment to providing more inputs towards regional harmony and peace.

New to this trip is the positioning. Rather than obliquely relying on international partnerships or institutions tilted towards the West, Pakistan is providing more inputs to regional forums such as ECO. This move is a part of the larger global phenomenon of global diplomacy, wherein regionalism has emerged to fill in the vacuum caused by inefficient international management. Pakistan as a leader as an ECO member is proof of a new foreign policy, utilizing geography, connections, and diplomacy for economic renewal and regional power. But follow-through will be decisive. If Pakistan’s return to the ECO fold is to be meaningful, the pace of Baku must be converted into action. That means converting summit statements into binding commitments, institutional coordination, and the domestic policy being aligned with regional goals.

Taken at large, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s presence at the 17th ECO Summit is not symbolic in nature, instead, it is a sincere statement of Pakistan wanting to be the architect of its own regional destiny. By putting trade, energy, climate, and diplomacy at the center stage, Islamabad is stating that it has the potential to be a facilitator of collaboration, and not a mere onlooker. If there is quality political will and effective enforcement, Pakistan can start not only being a valuable member of ECO but also become a regional power with vision and potential to define a more unified and potent South and Central Asia.