In a rare moment of international visibility, Belarusian authoritarian leader Aleksandr Lukashenko hosted Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on an official visit to Minsk on April 10. The visit marked a significant step in strengthening bilateral ties, with several agreements covering military cooperation, food security, and trade.
The most notable outcome of the talks was Lukashenko’s offer to accept up to 150,000 Pakistani workers to address the growing labor shortage in Belarus. With over 198,000 job vacancies reported across the country, the proposal aims to inject much-needed labor into the Belarusian economy, which is under increasing pressure.
Lukashenko emphasized that Pakistan has a large pool of people eager to work in Belarus, and his government is ready to create the necessary conditions to employ them. This development comes amid ongoing challenges faced by Belarus in maintaining a stable workforce, particularly as its economy continues to struggle under the weight of international sanctions and diplomatic isolation.
However, this proposal has sparked concerns in neighboring European Union countries, particularly Poland, Latvia, and Lithuania. These countries view the influx of Pakistani workers with skepticism, recalling the 2021-2022 border crisis when Belarus was accused of using migrants from the Middle East, Africa, and South Asia as pawns in its political standoff with the EU.
During this period, thousands of migrants, including many from Pakistan, were stranded in the forests along Belarus’ borders with the EU, leading to a humanitarian and security crisis. Belarus was accused of weaponizing migration as retaliation for Western sanctions, and EU border guards were forced to take drastic measures, leading to fatalities and long-term mistrust in Belarus’ migration policies.
The visit also resulted in several military cooperation agreements, including a roadmap for defense-industrial ties between Belarus and Pakistan through 2027. However, the lack of recent trade statistics between the two countries has drawn attention, as Belarus’ trade with Pakistan in 2020 was reported to be between $50 million and $65 million, far from the promised $1 billion trade target set in 2015.
Despite the relatively small trade volume, the visit provides Lukashenko with a much-needed diplomatic boost amid his increasing reliance on Moscow. For the EU, this development is a reminder of Belarus’ previous controversial actions and the possibility that Lukashenko might once again use people as leverage in his ongoing conflict with the West.
