Pakistan’s international status has risen significantly, and the great personal charisma of PM Khan had been highly recognised by the international community. In recent years, Pakistan’s diplomacy, focusing on geo-economic strategy, has been very ‘vigorous and successful’ with commitment to balanced relations among major powers in the world. So Prime Minister Imran Khan’s upcoming official visit to Russia is historic and of great strategic significance. It is particularly noteworthy that with a gap of 23 years, Russia has invited the Pakistani leader to visit Moscow, which reflected PM Imran Khan’s high-stature and leadership qualities. Russian President Vladimir Putin has great respect for PM Khan and now the voice of Pakistani leader is always acknowledged at the world level whether it is on regional or international issues, which enhances the dignity of Pakistani people and nation. The strategic significance of the visit was mainly reflected in the three aspects: rising Pakistan’s international status; Russia’s tilt towards developing cooperation with Pakistan as India gets closer to the US; cooperative relations among Pakistan, China and Russia is conducive to curbing the disturbance of external force. It will be Khan’s maiden trip to Russia. Talks between Khan and Putin will be the highlight of the visit, which is taking place at a time when Moscow is locked in mounting tensions with the West over Ukraine. Khan’s visit is also significant as Pakistan’s relations with longtime ally US grow increasingly frosty, mainly due to the Afghanistan issue and Islamabad’s growing economic and defense partnership with China.
Islamabad was a close partner of Washington during the Cold War, playing an instrumental role in Russia’s ouster from neighboring Afghanistan in 1989 Khan and Putin will review the entire array of bilateral relations including energy cooperation and exchange of views on major regional and international issues, including Islamophobia and the situation in Afghanistan. The visit will help to further deepen the multifaceted Pakistan-Russia bilateral relationship and enhancement of mutual cooperation in diverse fields. Pakistan and Russia enjoy friendly relations marked by mutual respect, trust and convergence of views on a range of international and regional issues. The CASA-1000 project aimed at creating a system to transfer electricity from Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan to Afghanistan and Pakistan promises to be of benefit to all parties. Russia is ready to join it and co-invest. Our companies could also participate in the Tajikistan – Afghanistan – Pakistan – India gas pipeline construction. It is obvious that the development of parliamentary dimension of our interaction makes a significant contribution to ensuring a favourable climate in bilateral relations. A Memorandum of Understanding on scientific and technical cooperation and a new three-year Programme of cultural and scientific exchanges, which are being worked out through concerned agencies, will afford a robust legal basis for further development of interaction in this area. It is a matter of satisfaction that Russian education is still of profound interest to Pakistan and several hundred Pakistani students are now studying in the universities of our country. They study not only on a commercial basis but also making use of educational grants allocated from the Russian budget.
Mutually beneficial trade and economic ties are being strengthened, coordination within the UN, SCO and other multilateral structures brings visible results. Both countries make consistent efforts to strengthen mutually beneficial cooperation for the benefit of peoples of Russia and Pakistan as well as in the interests of regional peace and stability.
