ISLAMABAD: Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi has received his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov on Tuesday who arrived in Islamabad for a two-day visit.
According to details, this is the first visit by a Russian foreign minister to Pakistan in nine years.
During his stay in Pakistan Sergey Lavrov will meet Prime Minister Imran Khan, and Army Chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa to discuss the Afghan situation, bilateral ties, including economic cooperation and counterterrorism and socio-economic ramifications of the COVID-19 pandemic.
H.E. Sergey Lavrov, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation arrives in Islamabad for his official visit. Foreign Minister @SMQureshiPTI received his Russian counterpart.
????????????????@mfa_russia @RusEmbPakistan @PakinRussia#RussianFMinPakistan pic.twitter.com/86zgU97VPJ
— Ministry of Foreign Affairs – Pakistan (@ForeignOfficePk) April 6, 2021
Earlier the day, Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi has asserted that the bilateral relations between Pakistan and Russia were taking a new turn and improving in the fields of economy and defense.
In a video message issued today, the foreign minister said that his Russian counterpart’s visit to Pakistan was vital for promoting bilateral relations. “We intend to cooperate with each other in the region,” he added.
Shah Mehmood further said both the countries want to take forward the North-South Gas pipeline project. He added that discussions will be held with the Russian counterpart on the promotion of trade.
He said Pakistan would welcome it if Russia made an investment for the revival of Pakistan Steels Mills (PSM) or other projects.
Referring to the Afghan peace process, FM Qureshi said Russia playing a key role in promoting peace and stability in Afghanistan. “Russia can persuade India to play a positive role in bringing peace to Afghanistan,” he added.
According to a statement issued by the Russian Foreign Ministry, FM Lavrov will also hold meetings with the country’s top political and military leadership.
“The parties plan to discuss the current state and prospects for the development of bilateral relations with an emphasis on cooperation in the trade, economic and counter-terrorism fields, exchange views on topical issues of the international and regional agenda,” the statement said.
“Today, Pakistan is an important foreign policy partner of our country. Fruitful interaction is maintained at the international organisations, primarily in the UN and its specialized agencies,” it said.
“The cooperation between Moscow and Islamabad is based on the coincidence or similarity of positions on most of the problems of the world community, including issues of strategic stability and countering terrorism,” it added.
It is worth mentioning here despite several attempts in different ears, the relations between the two countries did not see much change.
However, in 2014, Russian policies endured a most important change, permitting Pakistan to purchase weapons from Moscow. Afterward, the first joint military exercise between the two countries was held in 2016, signifying the starting of a new epoch.
Later in 2017, both countries have taken several steps to promote Pak-Russia trade and other bilateral relations. In 2018, the volume of Pak-Russia bilateral trade reached 800 million, which was only 60 million in 2017. In December of the same year, Russia assured Pakistan of its cooperation in several fields.
