Imran Khan’s trip to Russia next week will be a “game-changer,” Pakistan’s Information Minister Chaudhry Fawad Hussain said on Saturday.
This month, Pakistan’s prime minister will travel to Russia. A Pakistani prime minister has not visited Russia in 23 years, but Khan will be the first one to do so.
The last Pakistani prime leader to visit Moscow was Nawaz Sharif, who was disqualified from office in 2017 and now lives in self-imposed exile in London.
Hussain informed reporters that he had been invited to Moscow for the first time in 23 years as Pakistan’s leader. There are only a few of politicians who have received the level of respect that President Putin has shown to Prime Minister Imran Khan,” he said. “This trip is going to change everything.”
As with Pakistan’s relationship with China, Hussain predicted “extremely solid” relations between his country and Russia. Singling out Khan’s opinions on Islamophobia and other concerns, Hussain praised the prime minister.
Because of Pakistan and Russia’s Cold War animosity sparked by the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, Khan’s impending trip to Russia is significant. Afghanistan’s guerrilla struggle was facilitated by Pakistan’s cooperation of the United States during this time period.
Russian President Vladimir Putin lifted a decades-old arms embargo on the United States in 2014 as part of an effort to improve ties between the two countries.
Pakistan is thought to be trying to diversify its foreign policy by increasing its diplomatic ties with Russia.
As recently as last year, Pakistan and Russia signed a revised inter-governmental agreement for a showpiece pipeline project that would link Pakistan’s Punjab province with Karachi, Pakistan’s port city.
Project was previously known as the North-South Pipeline but is now renamed Pakistan Stream Gas Pipeline Project which will supply imported liquefied natural gas (LNG) from Pakistan’s coastal regions to industrial centres in Punjab.
An agreement on fees and sanctions against Russian state corporation Rostec have kept the plan on hold since 2015.
In September 2021, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov visited Pakistan and engaged in extensive discussions on bilateral relations, regional and global concerns, and other pressing matters.
