FM Bilawal to undertake official visit to Moscow. On the invitation of his Russian colleague Sergey Lavrov, Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari will go to Moscow on official visit from January 29 to 30, the Foreign Office (FO) announced in a statement on Saturday.
“The foreign minister will hold official talks with his Russian counterpart where the two sides would deliberate upon the entire spectrum of bilateral relations and exchange views on the regional and international issues of mutual interest,” stated the press release.
A big development at a time when the country is experiencing a terrible economic crisis, the foreign minister’s visit comes almost a week after Pakistan and Russia concluded a deal on the delivery of Russian crude oil and other oil products.
Following the conclusion of the Pakistan-Russia Intergovernmental Commission on Trade, Economic, Scientific and Technical Cooperation, the two parties came to an agreement.
Following a joint ministerial conference, Pakistan’s energy and petroleum ministers announced that the framework for its purchase of Russian oil would be finalised in March of this year and that payment for its energy imports would be made in the currencies of friendly nations.
FM Bilawal to undertake official visit to Moscow. In a special message to Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif earlier, Russian President Vladimir Putin reiterated his nation’s strong interest in deepening bilateral relations as well as boosting trade and investment between the two sides. Putin sees Pakistan as his country’s key partner in South Asia and the Islamic world.
Through the special message, the Russian energy minister conveyed that President Putin referred to “Pakistan as Russia’s important partner in South Asia and the Islamic World [and] reiterated Russia’s strong interest to deepen the bilateral relationship”.
