Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Wednesday met with Russian President Vladimir Putin here in Astana wherein he emphasised the expansion of bilateral trade between Pakistan and Russia, reported 24NewsHD TV channel.
The prime minister, in his televised opening remarks at the meeting, said the bilateral trade stood at around $1 billion which could be expanded by overcoming the financial and banking matters.
PM Shehbaz, who arrived here to attend the twin Summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization Council of Heads of State (CHS) and SCO Plus summits, expressed his pleasure to meet the Russian leader and recalled their earlier interaction in Samarkand.
He congratulated President Putin on his re-election and expressed the hope that the Russian Federation would achieve further progress under his leadership. The prime minister said that the bilateral relations were on a positive trajectory since last several years.
He expressed his readiness to work closely with the Russian president to further cement bilateral ties and viewed that both the countries had lot to do by benefiting from President Putin’s experience
He thanked the Russian government for sending an oil shipment to Pakistan in the recent past and expressed the desire to move further in this regard.
He said that Pakistan-Russian ties were not driven or impacted by any geopolitical situation as both the countries had very old business relations.
He recalled the barter trade between two countries during the decades of 50s to 70s when Pakistan used to import machinery from Russia and export leather and other commodities to Russia.
In his remarks, Russian President Putin also mentioned their earlier interaction in Samarkand on the sidelines of SCO summit in which they had discussed the ways to further improve bilateral relations. He said that Pakistan and Russia enjoyed cordial relations which had improved due to the trade linkages.
He said both countries could enhance their cooperation in energy and agriculture and expressed his readiness to promote cooperation with Pakistan in the field of food security.
Talks with Tajik counterpart
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Wednesday invited Tajikistan to use Karachi Port for the transit trade besides emphasising the promotion of regional connectivity by constructing rail tracks and roads between the two countries.
The bilateral relations were discussed in a bilateral meeting between Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif and his Tajik counterpart Qohir Rasulzoda in Dushanbe.
The prime minister is on a two-day official visit to Tajikistan at the invitation of the President of Tajikistan Emomali Rahmon.
The two leaders expressed satisfaction over the steadily expanding bilateral cooperation in all areas of mutual interest and reaffirmed their shared desire to further strengthen the existing fraternal ties.
PM Shehbaz congratulated the Tajik prime minister on the successful organization of the 3rd High-Level Water Conference and appreciated Tajikistan’s leading role in water diplomacy.
Hailing the signing of the Strategic Partnership Agreement as a historic moment in bilateral ties between Pakistan and Tajikistan, the prime minister expressed the hope that this elevation of the relationship between the two countries would open up new areas of mutually beneficial economic cooperation.
Shehbaz underlined that Pakistan would continue to pursue enhanced engagement with Central Asian countries, including Tajikistan, in line with its “Vision Central Asia” policy. He also stressed that enhanced regional connectivity and integration would remain key components for sustainable long-term socio-economic development of the region.
Emphasising the importance of regional ties in the South Asian and Central Asian region, the prime minister suggested that Pakistan host a regional connectivity summit to provide trade corridors to Central Asian countries and promote regional trade.
The prime minister welcomed the recent start of international flights between Pakistan and Tajikistan and emphasised increasing the number of flights. He said that religious and cultural values were common between the Tajik and Pakistani people and called for further expansion of social relations between the two countries.
Prime Minister Shehbaz also reiterated the need for enhanced cooperation in culture, education, sports, and people-to-people contacts.
Parliamentary ties
Pakistan and Tajikistan have emphasized the need for continuous interaction and contacts between the parliamentarians of both countries.
This came at a meeting between Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Chairman of the Lower House of the Parliament of Tajikistan Muhammadtoir Zokirzoda in Dushanbe on Wednesday.
They expressed satisfaction over the cooperation between the two countries at the parliamentary level. They agreed to strengthen the already established parliamentary friendship groups and regular parliamentary exchanges to further enhance bilateral relations.
In his remarks, Prime Minister Shehbaz emphasized that parliamentarians play an important role in bringing closer the people of both countries.