From diplomatic recognition to building an airline, Pakistan played a quiet but significant role in the UAE’s formative decades.
The relationship between Pakistan and the United Arab Emirates is often described in warm terms, brotherly, historic and deeply personal. Behind that language sits a real record of cooperation that stretches back to before the UAE even existed as a country. In its earliest and most fragile years, the new federation turned to Pakistan for recognition, expertise, and hands-on support across several fields.
Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, the founding father of the UAE, held a lifelong personal affinity for Pakistan and was famously said to have considered it his second home. That bond, formed through repeated visits and personal friendships, helped shape a partnership that would grow across defense, aviation, diplomacy, and development. The story of how Pakistan contributed to the UAE’s founding years is a notable chapter in the history of both nations.
What follows is a look at the key moments, with the dates and the people who made them happen.
1968 to 1971: Early Defense Cooperation Before the UAE Existed
The military relationship between Pakistan and Abu Dhabi predates the UAE itself. According to historical accounts, defense cooperation began as early as 1968, at the direct request of Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, then the Ruler of Abu Dhabi.
The timing was significant. In 1968, British Prime Minister Harold Wilson announced that the United Kingdom would withdraw from the Gulf by 1971, leaving the small emirates to arrange their own security. By then, Pakistan was already an established military partner across the Arab world. Pakistani officers had been training and advising Arab armed forces since the early 1960s, and Pakistan Air Force pilots had flown missions for Jordan and Egypt during the 1967 war.
Pakistan’s officer corps, shaped in the British military tradition, made it a natural fit to help build the British-patterned forces taking shape across the Gulf. This early role positioned Pakistan as a trusted partner to Abu Dhabi during the uncertain years leading up to the federation’s birth.
1970: Sheikh Zayed’s State Visit and Technical Assistance
Diplomatic and technical ties were taking shape even before the union was formed. In January 1970, Sheikh Zayed made a state visit to Pakistan at the invitation of President Yahya Khan, who served as Pakistan’s president from 1969 to 1971. The visit, documented in a large photographic record, showed the Abu Dhabi delegation being formally received in Pakistan.
The delegation included several figures who would go on to shape the UAE, among them Ahmed bin Khalifa Al Suwaidi, who became the first Minister of Foreign Affairs of the UAE, and Butti bin Bishr, secretary to Sheikh Zayed. Also present was Pakistani banker Agha Hasan Abedi, who was close to Sheikh Zayed and later played a role in the ruler’s early diplomatic engagements.
That same year, in July 1970, Yahya Khan was reported to have been instrumental in creating an agreement to provide technical assistance to the Trucial States, the collection of emirates that would soon become the UAE. This made Pakistan an early source of practical support during the run-up to independence.
December 1971: Pakistan Among the First to Recognize the UAE
The UAE formally came into being on December 2, 1971, when six emirates united under Sheikh Zayed, who was elected the country’s first president. Ras Al Khaimah joined the federation soon after, on February 10, 1972.
Pakistan moved quickly to embrace the new country. Just two days after the federation was established, Pakistan, then led by President Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, extended diplomatic recognition, making it one of the very first nations to do so. Yahya Khan had also been among the first foreign leaders to reach out to Sheikh Zayed after the UAE’s founding. Embassies in Abu Dhabi and Islamabad followed soon after, formally beginning bilateral ties.
This swift recognition was more than a diplomatic courtesy. It was a gesture of solidarity that Sheikh Zayed reportedly valued deeply, and it set the tone for the closeness that would define the relationship in the decades to come.
1985: Pakistan Helps Launch Emirates Airline
Perhaps the most striking example of Pakistan’s role came in the world of aviation. In 1985, when the government of Dubai set out to create its own national carrier, it turned to Pakistan International Airlines for help. The result was Emirates, today one of the world’s largest airlines.
PIA provided technical and administrative support and leased two aircraft to the new airline, an Airbus A300B4-200 and a Boeing 737-300, both flown in Emirates livery. It also sent a team of aviation professionals to Dubai. Among them was Captain Fazle Ghani, a senior PIA pilot appointed as project director and chief pilot for Emirates’ inaugural operations. He arrived in Dubai in October 1985 and met with Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, the chairman of Emirates, and Maurice Flanagan, the airline’s first managing director.
On October 25, 1985, Captain Ghani commanded Emirates flight EK600 from Dubai to Karachi, the airline’s very first service. Pakistan was therefore Emirates’ first-ever destination. Emirates cabin crew had trained at PIA’s ground training school in Karachi in the months before launch. Emirates has publicly acknowledged this history, and PIA’s former chief, Air Marshal Arshad Malik, later described Captain Ghani as the lead founder pilot of Emirates.
1975 Onward: UAE Support Flows Back to Pakistan
The relationship was never one-way. As the UAE grew wealthier, it became a major benefactor to Pakistan, reflecting the mutual nature of the partnership. In 1975, the UAE loaned $100 million to support programs in Pakistan, one of its first diplomatic partners, according to The National.
Over the following decades, the UAE funded educational institutions, hospitals, roads, bridges, and housing projects across Pakistan. Several landmarks carry the founder’s name in recognition of that generosity, including the Sheikh Zayed Medical Complex in Karachi and the Sheikh Zayed Bridge in Swat. The support continued through emergency relief programs during natural disasters and periods of economic difficulty.
That exchange of support helped turn an early friendship into one of the region’s most enduring partnerships. Today the UAE is home to more than 1.5 million Pakistanis, and it remains one of the largest investors in Pakistan, a modern extension of ties first built in the years around the UAE’s founding.
