———- Both countries pledge to boost economic ties
———- Russian Deputy Premier holds separate meetings with President, PM
———- President calls for easing visa regulations, increasing connectivity
———- PM asserts Pakistan keen to expand trade, security cooperation with Russia
———- 75-member Pakistani business delegation to visit Russia next month
By Anzal Amin
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan and Russia on Thursday reiterated their commitment to expanding trade and economic ties, besides enhancing regional connectivity to strengthen bilateral relations.
The resolve came as Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexei Overchuk, during his two-day official trip, held separate meetings with President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif. Russian delegation led by Deputy PM Overchuk called on President Zardari at Aiwan-e-Sadr and the both sides underscored the importance of fostering mutually beneficial cooperation in key sectors, as per an official statement.
The sectors of bilateral cooperation between both countries include agriculture, food security, busi-ness, education, railways, science and technology, and promoting stronger people-to-people connec-tions.
Welcoming the Russian deputy premier, the president stressed the importance of exploring possibili-ties for barter trade, in addition to improving connectivity to strengthen economic relations between the two nations.
He called for easing visa regulations and increasing connectivity through railways and direct flights to facilitate and enhance people-to-people and business-to-business contacts.
During the meeting, it was highlighted that there was great scope to increase bilateral cooperation in the agriculture sector.
It was emphasised that there was enormous potential to undertake joint ventures in the agricultural sector for the mutual benefit of the two countries.
It was also informed that a 75-member business delegation from Pakistan would visit Russia in October to explore avenues for business and economic cooperation. Overchuk said that Russia was looking forward to improving cooperation with Pakistan in food security, science and technology, education, connectivity and railways.
He stated that the upcoming visit of the Russian PM to Pakistan, in October, would provide another opportunity to further strengthen bilateral relations. He further said that Russia held tremendous re-spect for all religions and Muslim culture, and had condemned the desecration of the Holy Quran.
Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister, Ishaq Dar, Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, Minister of Planning, Development, and Special Initiatives Ahsan Iqbal, Minister of En-ergy (Power and Petroleum Divisions) Awais Leghari, Minister of Communications Abdul Aleem Khan, Minister of Commerce Jam Kamal Khan, Senator Sherry Rehman, and senior government officials were also present during the meeting.
