ISLAMABAD: Russian President Vladimir Putin and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif have quietly exchanged letters, expressing a desire to strengthen cooperation between the two countries, The Express Tribune reported while quoting a senior foreign office official.
The report said that the letters were exchanged after the election of Shehbaz as prime minister but both the sides kept development away from the media glare in what seemed to be a move aimed at avoiding any public attention.
“A senior foreign office official confirmed that President Putin wrote a letter to the prime minister, congratulating him on his election,” the report added.
The official, who requested not to be named because of the sensitivity of the issue, said Putin expressed the desire to deepen cooperation between the two countries, the report read.
“PM Shehbaz wrote back to Putin thanking him for his felicitation message and expressed similar sentiments on bilateral ties between the two countries as well as cooperation on Afghanistan,” it added.
The exchange of letters happened as the former Prime Minister Imran Khan is adamant he was ousted from power through an alleged US-backed vote of no-confidence since Americans did not like his Russian policy.
But the felicitation message by President Putin suggested that the process of building a relationship between Pakistan and Russia would continue under the new political dispensation.
Foreign Office officials said resetting ties with Russia was a decision taken by the state a long time back keeping in view the changing regional and international alignments.
The Russian Embassy in Islamabad, using its Twitter handle, congratulated Shehbaz on April 12 and expressed the hope that ties between the two countries would grow under his government.
