MOSCOW, Apr 13 (DNA): Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif is likely to visit Moscow in June to meet the country’s leadership and further strengthen the longstanding and cordial relations between Pakistan and Russia, Ambassador of Pakistan to Russia Faisal Niaz Tirmizi said.
“We are working on the dates, and hopefully by June, the prime minister will be here, because he is
” Really looking forward to this historic visit,” he said in an interview with a Russian television channel.
He said that the prime minister’s visit was postponed after the assassination of Iran’s Supreme
Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei as all texts and agreements had already been prepared.
The ambassador said the Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif had held several meetings with President
Putin in China and Ashgabat and described him as “a voice of wisdom and a great statesman of
global affairs.”
“Hopefully, this conflict will be over soon, and the prime minister will be able to visit Moscow and St. Petersburg,” Tirmizi added.
Asked about President Putin’s visit to Islamabad, he said, “Hopefully, after the visit of the prime minister, President Putin will pay a return visit.”
Highlighting the deep coordination between Pakistan and Russia during the Iran-US conflict, he said that Pakistan played the role of a mediator, maintaining close contact with both sides and with Russia at all levels.
He said that he held three high-level meetings with Russian deputy foreign ministers in the last two weeks alone.
Tirmizi noted that Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s direct engagement with President Trump helped de-escalate the situation, leading to the decision to hold negotiations in Pakistan.
On energy cooperation, Ambassador Tirmizi confirmed that Pakistan was negotiating long-term oil supplies from Russia.
“We are getting oil from the Gulf now, and we are in talks with the Russians as well, because we received one consignment in 2023, and we are still in negotiations with the Russians regularly. And that would be something very important for Pakistan and the Russian Federation.”
Asked whether Western sanctions could obstacle such trade, the ambassador said that some Russian companies had issues with the sanctions, “but we are trying to deal with those issues which don’t fall within the sanctions.”
On military-to-military ties, he said that the two countries would hold the “Druzhba” joint counter-terrorism exercises in Pakistan in September this year.
He said that both nations would also cooperate closely within the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) and its Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure (RATS) against terrorism, extremism and the activities of groups such as ISIS-K (Wilayat-e-Khorasan), Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan and Tehrik-i-Taliban Afghanistan.
Ambassador Tirmizi expressed confidence that Pakistan belonged in BRICS and hoped Russia would support Islamabad’s candidature. He noted that only India had opposed Pakistan’s candidacy, while China, Brazil and South Africa backed Pakistan’s inclusion.
On people-to-people contacts, the ambassador said the embassy was planning to send the first organised group of Russian tourists to Pakistan soon.
On people-to-people links, he said that currently, 1,300 Pakistani students were studying in Russia and that Russian language was taught in Pakistani schools, and Urdu literature was also available in Russian translation.
He noted that around 3,000 Russians were married to Pakistanis and living in Pakistan, while many Pakistanis married to Russians frequently travel between the two countries.
The ambassador said that Russians already visit Pakistan for hiking and mountaineering, attracted by five of the world’s 14 eight-thousanders. Pakistan aims to promote its beaches, history, and even summer skiing to attract more Russian tourists, he added.
