Foreign Minister Makhdoom Shah Mahmood Qureshi Monday reaffirmed that relations with Russia were a key priority of Pakistan’s foreign policy.
In a telephonic conversation with Foreign Minister of Russia Sergey Lavrov, the foreign minister noted that Pakistan-Russia relations had made impressive progress over the past two decades and stressed upon continuation of this progress to capitalize on their cooperation.
During the call, the two foreign ministers exchanged views on bilateral, regional and global issues of mutual interest.
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Foreign minister Qureshi further said that an important development since foreign minister Lavrov’s visit was the signing of Protocol on amendments to Inter-Governmental Agreement for the development of North-South Gas Pipeline Project (Pakistan Stream) and which would pave the way for an early commencement of the project.
He also reiterated Pakistan’s request for assistance in procuring 5 million doses of Sputnik V vaccines.
FM @SMQureshiPTI held a telephonic conversation with Russian FM, Sergey Lavrov. Both exchanged views on bilateral, regional and global issues of mutual interest & reaffirmed committment to deepen long-term multidimensional partnership between 🇵🇰-🇷🇺.@mfa_russia@PakinRussia
— Ministry of Foreign Affairs – Pakistan (@ForeignOfficePk) June 14, 2021
Qureshi hoped that joint mechanisms such as political consultations, Pakistan-Russia IGC and various other joint working groups meetings would resume in-person once the Covid situation normalized.
Both sides agreed to work closely for an early negotiated political settlement of the Afghan issue.
He said that foreign minister Lavrov’s recent visit to Pakistan reflected keenness of both sides to deepen their long-term multidimensional partnership.
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The two foreign ministers stressed the importance of follow-up action on the decisions made during the recent visits to transform these into tangible outcomes.
The two foreign ministers also agreed to remain in close contact.
Courtesy: APP