PAKISTAN BRITAIN

AND THE
COMMONWEALTH 
By :
•Safah Jibran
•Ayesha Imran
•Nabeeha Ismail
•Sarah Altaf
 Government Parliamentary Constitutional
Monarchy
Type:
Exports : $874.486 billion (2021)

Imports : $898.719 billion (2021)

Population : 67,791,400 (2022)

34.637 million (2021 est.)

FACT FILE  Labor Force: country comparison to the w
orld: 17
• Germany 13%
• China 10%
Import • United States 8%
• Netherlands 7%
Partners:
• France 6%
• Belgium 5% (2019)

Prime minister: Rishi Sunak

King:  King Charles III

Pakistan relation with
CENTO and SEATO
 Southeast Asia Treaty Organization (SEATO): it was formed to prevent
communism from gaining ground in the region.
 Central Treaty Organization (CENTO)
 Pakistan after its independence had faced serious security and economic
problems and was more worried about its military situation. Now Pakistan
decided to co-operate with the US in its policy in order to achieve US
military aid and assistance.
Rulers
Liaquat Ali Khan President Ayub Khan Zulfikar Ali Bhutto

1955 1969 1977

1948 1958 1971

Major-General
General Yahya Khan General Zia 
Iskander Mirza
Problems
1. Division of assets :– 17 to 5
2. Water crisis – Indus, Jhelum, Chenab
3. Unfair boundary by Cyril Radcliffe
4. Killing of hundred thousands of Muslim
Refugees In India
5. The issue of refugees
6. Forceful annexation of princely states by
India
• Hyderabad, Junagadh, N-Kashmir
7. Language Problem (Urdu) – 1956
constitution
8. Defense of boundaries - British aid –
Quaid-e-Azam had appointed the British
for training
1965 and
1971 war
•The Suez Canal is a sea-level waterway in Egypt, connecting the Mediterranean Sea to the
Red Sea. It is the most fasted and direct trade link between Asia and Europe. In 29 October
1956  Britain, France and Israel invaded Egypt to get control of the Suez Canal. Pakistan
blamed Britain for this and in 1965, the British played a major part in bringing war between
India and Pakistan to an end.
•The Final agreement was signed in London. Throughout the 1971 war over Bangladesh,
Britain maintained a neutral position. Members of the government at the same time
expressed deep concerns about the conflict and called for an end to the bloodshed in East
Pakistan.
•On 6 April 1971, the Daily Mirror
reported an example of the British
neutrality policy. Sir Alec Douglas-
Home, the Foreign Secretary, said that
Britain had ‘no intention of interfering in
Pakistan’s internal affairs’, but that they
were making a ‘strong diplomatic effort
to end the bloodshed in East Pakistan’.
•Pakistan ended its alliance with the
United States in protest after the East-
Pakistan war in which East Pakistan
successfully seceded with the aid of
India.
Why Pakistan joined Commonwealth
•The commonwealth is a discussion group of like-minded nations that share a common
heritage and traditions as they were all once British colonies. Pakistan didn’t have a choice to
join Commonwealth. Commonwealth is basically a different name for coalition of nations that
were once part of British Empire, and a couple other countries. It seems they wanted “IN” to
keep an eye on India. Previously, when military took over, Pakistan was kicked out of
Commonwealth for not abiding by democratic values. Pakistan once left Commonwealth as a
protest on formation of Bangladesh. Kept re-joining after leaving or being suspended each
time.

• This gave Pakistan political and economic support as Pakistan declared itself a republic in
1956 which meant British had no say in how Pakistan would be governed
•In commonwealth meeting In 1950 in Colombia a Colombo plan was set up to provide aid for
Pakistan. More than 1 million pounds was given to sui gas project and some of them made
individual contributions like Canada gave 40 million dollar to the development of railways.
•However, Pakistan always didn’t get the political support it hoped for and many times
Pakistan failed to support India which created weak relationships
Afghan Crisis
•During the Afghan Crisis, Britain supported Pakistan and
Margaret Thatcher, the British Prime Minister, was the first
western leader to visit Pakistan after the occupation of
Afghanistan. As a staunch ally of the USA, Britain fully
supported the role of Pakistan in the Afghan struggle
against the Soviet Union.
• Britain gave not only political support, but also £30
million aid to Pakistan for the welfare of the Afghan
refugees that streamed across its border, and £16 million
more to help refugees in Baluchistan and the NWFP. During
the 1980s Britain remained a highly important trading
partner with Pakistan, with an estimated £376 million worth
of trade between the two countries occurring by 1986.
Soviet-Afghan War
The Commonwealth
• Afghan situation improved relations with west
pakistan and pakistan saw commonwealth
meetings a very useful platform to put pressure
on India over Kashmir issue
• previous attempts of pakistan to join
commonwealth were blocked by India as they
said that pakistan was under a military rule and
only democratic countries could be a member
• the death of Zia ul haq ended these objections
• thus Pak returned to common wealth on 1989
Successes
• The British provided Jinnah with help at the top levels of both the military and the civil service. It would have
been difficult for Pakistan to begin life as an independent country without this assistance and expertise.
Britain also gave financial and technical aid and advice.

• Pakistan had become a member of the Commonwealth and this membership gave Pakistan political and
economic support. At a Commonwealth meeting in Colombo in 1950, the 'Colombo Plan' was set up to provide
aid for Pakistan. More than £1 million was given towards the Sui gas project and some of , the wealthy
Commonwealth nations made individual contributions. For example, Canada gave $40 million dollars towards
the development of railways.

• In 1965 Britain played a major part,' bringing the war between India and Pakistan to an. end. The final
agreement was signed at the Commonwealth Conference in London in June 1965.
• During the Afghan Crisis, Britain supported Pakistan and Margaret Thatcher, 2 the British Prime Minister, was
the first western leader to visit Pakistan after the occupation of Afghanistan. As a staunch ally of the USA,
Britain fully supported the role of Pakistan in the Afghan struggle against the Soviet Union. Britain gave not
only political support, but also £30 million aid to Pakistan for the welfare of the Afghan refugees that streamed
across its border. and £16 million more to help refugees in Baluchistan and the NWFP. During the 1980s Britain
remained a highly important trading partner with Pakistan, with an estimated £376 million worth of trade
between the two countries occurring by 1986.
Failures
•There were times where Pakistan failed to support the British, and sometimes it was for revenge
because when British came to India before partition they changed the language, education system,
Christianity
•Relations with Commonwealth had not always been good, and were sometimes strained because
Pakistan didn’t always get the political support it hoped for
•Commonwealth members often argued against the policy of military rule, and after Pakistan left
Commonwealth in 1971 it tried to rejoin later on however India kept blocking them from doing so and
continuously argued saying that Pakistan was under military rule and only democratic countries could
be members.
•Pakistan left commonwealth in 1971 in protest at the Commonwealth's recognition of breakaway
Bangladesh, however Pakistan later returned to the Commonwealth in 1989. Because when Zia ul Haq
died, the military rule ended and these obligations were no longer valid meaning that India couldn’t
argue against Pakistan saying it was under the military rule.
•Many Pakistanis thought that too much attention had been given to India to keep it in the
Commonwealth, and so the main reason that Pakistan return to the Commonwealth was to keep an eye
on India and to avoid surrender/give Commonwealth platforms to India.
•Pakistan wanted British and the Commonwealth to discuss Kashmir at commonwealth prime ministerial
meeting which failed because of Nehru. He was determined to prevent this from happening since he was
on India’s side, therefore he wanted India to have control over Kashmir instead of Pakistan.
Past Paper
Questions
 November - 2016
•How successful was Pakistan’s relationship with the UK and the
commonwealth in the year 1947-1999? Explain your answer.
June 2017:
•What was SEATO?
 November 2015
•How successful have India and Pakistan been in finding a solution to
the Kashmir issue between 1947 - 1999? Explain your answer.
June 2016
How successful was Pakistan in solving problems of partition during 1947 and 1948?
Explain your answer
Thank you