ISLAMABAD: The Foreign Office on Monday announced the prime minister Imran Khan official visit to Russia, saying Mr Khan will visit Russia on Feb 23-24 on the invitation of Russian President Vladimir Putin. He will be accompanied by a high-level delegation, including members of the cabinet, on the “official visit”, the FO said.
“The visit of the prime minister will contribute to further deepening of the multifaceted Pakistan-Russia bilateral relationship and enhancement of mutual cooperation in diverse fields,” it added.
The announcement was made amidst growing uncertainty about the visit due to fears of a likely war between Russia and Ukraine, and the evolving political scenario at home.
It will be the first bilateral visit by a Pakistani prime minister to Russia in nearly 23 years. Former prime minister Nawaz Sharif last visited Moscow in 1999.
The FO said Mr Khan’s meeting with President Putin would be “the highlight of the visit”.
The two leaders would during their meeting review the state of bilateral cooperation, especially in the energy sector, besides exchanging views on regional and global issues. The FO identified Afghanistan and Islamophobia as the two issues that they are expected to discuss.
The visit in fact resulted from PM Khan’s call to President Putin on Jan 17 for praising him for his criticism of the incidents of blasphemy in Western countries.
The prime minister had on that occasion tweeted that he had called President Putin “primarily to express appreciation for his emphatic statement that freedom of speech could not be a pretext to abuse our Holy Prophet (PBUH). He is the first Western leader to show empathy & sensitivity to Muslim sentiment for their beloved Holy Prophet (PBUH)”.
Mr Putin appreciated Mr Khan’s gesture as it reinforced the perception that he was sympathetic to Muslim causes, especially in view of the Russia’s nearly 25 million strong Muslim community.
Relations between the former cold war foes have gradually improved over the past nearly 12 years. They were brought closer by developments in Afghanistan, transformation in geo-political environment and Russian concerns about terrorism and narcotics trafficking.
The upward trajectory in bilateral ties is visible from high-level engagements the two sides have held over these years and the institutional mechanisms they have established to sustain this momentum.
The two developments that in particular supported this rapprochement were the signing of a bilateral defence cooperation agreement in 2014 and Pakistan’s inclusion in the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation with Russian backing in 2017.
Both sides say their ties are marked by “mutual respect, trust and convergence of views on a range of international and regional issues”.
ISLAMABAD: The Foreign Office on Monday announced the prime minister Imran Khan official visit to Russia, saying Mr Khan will visit Russia on Feb 23-24 on the invitation of Russian President Vladimir Putin. He will be accompanied by a high-level delegation, including members of the cabinet, on the “official visit”, the FO said.
“The visit of the prime minister will contribute to further deepening of the multifaceted Pakistan-Russia bilateral relationship and enhancement of mutual cooperation in diverse fields,” it added.
The announcement was made amidst growing uncertainty about the visit due to fears of a likely war between Russia and Ukraine, and the evolving political scenario at home.
It will be the first bilateral visit by a Pakistani prime minister to Russia in nearly 23 years. Former prime minister Nawaz Sharif last visited Moscow in 1999.
The FO said Mr Khan’s meeting with President Putin would be “the highlight of the visit”.
The two leaders would during their meeting review the state of bilateral cooperation, especially in the energy sector, besides exchanging views on regional and global issues. The FO identified Afghanistan and Islamophobia as the two issues that they are expected to discuss.
The visit in fact resulted from PM Khan’s call to President Putin on Jan 17 for praising him for his criticism of the incidents of blasphemy in Western countries.
The prime minister had on that occasion tweeted that he had called President Putin “primarily to express appreciation for his emphatic statement that freedom of speech could not be a pretext to abuse our Holy Prophet (PBUH). He is the first Western leader to show empathy & sensitivity to Muslim sentiment for their beloved Holy Prophet (PBUH)”.
Mr Putin appreciated Mr Khan’s gesture as it reinforced the perception that he was sympathetic to Muslim causes, especially in view of the Russia’s nearly 25 million strong Muslim community.
Relations between the former cold war foes have gradually improved over the past nearly 12 years. They were brought closer by developments in Afghanistan, transformation in geo-political environment and Russian concerns about terrorism and narcotics trafficking.
The upward trajectory in bilateral ties is visible from high-level engagements the two sides have held over these years and the institutional mechanisms they have established to sustain this momentum.
The two developments that in particular supported this rapprochement were the signing of a bilateral defence cooperation agreement in 2014 and Pakistan’s inclusion in the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation with Russian backing in 2017.
Both sides say their ties are marked by “mutual respect, trust and convergence of views on a range of international and regional issues”.