Russian deputy premier arrives in Pakistan for official trip

By Islamuddin Sajid

ISLAMABAD (AA) - Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexei Overchuk on Wednesday arrived in Pakistan for a two-day official visit.

Upon his arrival in the capital Islamabad, he was received by senior officials from the Pakistani Foreign Ministry and Russian envoy to Pakistan Albert P. Khorev.

Overchuk, accompanied by a high-level delegation, will hold delegation-level talks with his counterpart Ishaq Dar.

According to the Pakistani Foreign Ministry, he will also meet with President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif.

"Pakistan and Russia enjoy cordial relations based on goodwill, amity, and trust, which is reflected in the multi-faceted bilateral cooperation including in trade, energy, and connectivity," said the ministry in a statement on Tuesday.

This is also the first high-level visit by Russia to Islamabad since April 2021.

In 2021, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov visited Pakistan, which was the first visit by a Russian foreign minister to Pakistan since 2012.

Relations between Moscow and Islamabad have been steadily growing as bilateral trade between the two countries also exceeded a historic milestone of $1 billion last year.

The two countries also signed an agreement to build the 1,100-kilometer-long (683.5 miles) Pakistan Stream natural gas pipeline, formerly known as the North-South Pipeline, in 2021.

The pipeline aims to carry 12.4 billion cubic meters of natural gas annually.

In March, Sharif said that Islamabad wants to boost its cooperation with Russia in several areas, especially in energy, trade, and investment.

Last year, Russia also agreed to provide oil and gas to Pakistan at "discounted" rates to meet Islamabad's rising domestic and industrial energy needs.