Islamabad: Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Thursday said Islamabad was keen to expand its trade, energy, connectivity and security cooperation with Moscow during his meeting with visiting Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexei Overchuk.
Overchuk arrived in Pakistan’s capital Islamabad on Wednesday on a two-day official visit with a high-level delegation. He has held talks with Deputy PM Ishaq Dar, Pakistan’s army chief and leading officials in Islamabad to bolster trade, investment, security and energy cooperation with Pakistan.
Islamabad has recently sought to strengthen ties with Moscow, including requests for discounted crude oil to address its balance of payments crisis and high energy import bill, as part of a broader strategy to diversify its international partnerships and economic dependencies.
“The Prime Minister stated that Pakistan is keen to expand trade, economic, energy, connectivity and security cooperation with Russia,” the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) said in a statement.
Sharif told Overchuk that Pakistan considers strengthening relations with Russia as an important priority of Pakistan’s foreign policy, the PMO said.
Overchuk thanked the Pakistani premier for giving him a warm welcome and reiterated Moscow’s resolve to deepen relations with Islamabad, the PMO said.
“He characterized Pakistan-Russia relations as constructive and mutually beneficial,” it added.
Sharif also witnessed the signing of a memorandum of understanding between the two countries to further strengthen mutually advantageous cooperation in all areas of shared interest, especially trade, investment, energy, IT, agriculture, science & technology and education.
