Islamabad:
Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexi Overchuk said Pakistan and Russia are “natural allies” and that President Putin considers Pakistan as an important partner in the growth and development of the economy and energy in the region.
Overchuk expressed these points of view on Thursday at a meeting with a Great power Pakistani delegation led by a special assistant by the Prime Minister (SAPM) on Foreign Affairs Syed Tariq Fatemi in Moscow.
SAPM on industries and Haroon Akhtar Khan production – who is also the focal point of the Pakistan Steel Mills project – was also part of the delegation.
During the meeting, the two parties examined the entire range of bilateral relations in all areas of mutual interest, including political, commercial and economic cooperation, as well as energy, connectivity, industrial and agricultural cooperation.
According to a statement published by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Pakistan and Russia have agreed to continue mutual cooperation in different fields, including the political, commercial and economic and energy sector.
SAPM Fatemi stressed that Pakistan attached great importance to its relations with the Russian Federation, adding that strengthening relations with the latter was one of the priorities of foreign policy in Pakistan. He said Pakistan considered Russia as a stabilizing factor in the international arena.
“President Putin was very impatient of his meeting with Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on the sidelines of the next sco-conflict of heads of state in Tianjin, China in late August this year,” Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexei Overchuk said at the meeting.
SAPM Akhtar said Pakistan attached great importance to ongoing discussions on new steelworks in Karachi, because the project involves an important heritage of Pakistan’s relations with Russia, which could serve as a symbol of cooperation and future partnership.
In 1956, Soviet Prime Minister Nikolai Bulganin offered technical and scientific assistance in Pakistan, then Prime Minister Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy and expressed his interest in establishing the country’s first steelworks.
The SAPM gave an overview of the industrial policy adapted to Pakistan investments, which had ensured macroeconomic stability, carried out under the current government.
During the meeting, DPM Overchuk, who was assisted by the main ministers, recalled his visit to Pakistan in September 2024 and his meeting with Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, on the sidelines of the government’s sco-leads in Islamabad in October 2024.
He also highlighted the importance of significant connectivity projects between two countries, such as rail connectivity between Uzbekistan, Pakistan and Russia, and the launch of the pilot cargo train between Pakistan and Russia in August 2025.
The two parties also addressed regional and international issues, such as the situation in South Asia, Afghanistan and the Middle East, as well as bilateral cooperation between Pakistan and Russia to all multilateral forums.
The visit of the two SAPMs was deeply appreciated by Overchuk, who stressed that President Putin was strongly in favor of the deepening of cooperation with Pakistan in all important sectors. App (with News Desk entry)
