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Friday, March 01, 2013Pakistan wants long-term ties with Russia, says Raja
* PM says Pakistan values Russian support in war against terrorism
* Calls for further increasing trade relations
Staff Report
ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf on Thursday said there is a national consensus in Pakistan on building strong relationship with the Russian Federation.
“We attach great importance to our relations with Russia. Both the countries have initiated a process of building a broad-based long term partnership,” the prime minister told a delegation of the Council of Federation of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation led by Chairperson of the Council Valentina Matvienko here at the Prime Minister’s House. The prime minister said there has been a visible expansion in the bilateral relations as well as economic cooperation between the two countries and Pakistan greatly values Russia’s interest to invest in the energy sector of Pakistan. He said there was a vast potential for increasing the bilateral trade further. “We greatly value the support and assistance of Russian Federation in the war against terrorism,” he said.
The prime minister said Russia was a source of peace and stability at both regional and global level and its growing power a positive development for the multi-polar world of today.
Valentina Matvienko said Pakistan was an important partner of Russia and plays an important role in international relations.
She said the exchange of visits of the parliamentary delegations of both the countries will help in further strengthening the bilateral relations. She said that some 2000 Pakistani students have graduated from Russian universities and Russia would welcome more students from Pakistan. The prime minister said parliaments of both the countries could certainly play an important role in strengthening the relationship between the two countries.
He said Pakistan was an ideal country for foreign investors and Russian investors must be encouraged to invest in Pakistan.
The prime minister thanked the Russian Federation for signing a memorandum of understanding for expansion and modernisation of Pakistan Steel Mills and expressed the hope that the work will be completed on time.
The chairperson of the Council conveyed the best wishes of Russian President Putin to the prime minister.
The delegation also met Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar. The foreign minister noting ‘significant expansion’ of Pakistan-Russia ties welcomed Russia’s interest in regional and trans-regional energy projects including CASA-1000 and TAPI.
The two leaders exchanged views on a number of regional and international issues including the situation in Afghanistan and the Middle East.
There was complete unanimity of views on enhancing bilateral cooperation, collaboration and coordination not only for the sake of mutual benefit but also with the aim of building stability, peace and prosperity in the broader region, according to a statement issued by the Foreign Office.
They also expressed satisfaction at the significant expansion in bilateral relations and the increasing frequency of high level exchanges and institutionalising mechanism for economic cooperation. These include the Intergovernmental Commission (IGC) and the Joint Working Group (JWG) on Energy Cooperation. These bilateral activities would inject momentum in the upward trajectory of Pakistan-Russia cooperation.
The foreign minister extended a warm welcome to the chairperson on her first visit to Pakistan. The discussions on the occasion spanned the wide spectrum of Pakistan-Russia bilateral relations as well as important regional and international issues. Foreign Minister Khar and Chairperson Matvienko commended the two Parliaments for their vital role in enhancing Pakistan-Russia bilateral relations.
Courtesy www.dailytimes.com.pk