ISLAMABAD: After concluding a highly successful tour of China, Prime Minister Imran Khan is expected to visit Russia in the last week of this month.
According to sources, Prime Imran Khan’s visit to Russia is taking place at the invitation of Russian President Vladimir Putin. He will become the first Pakistani prime minister in 23 years to visit Russia.
The prime minister will be accompanied by a high-level delegation of senior ministers from his cabinet. The details and schedule of this visit are expected to be released in due course by the Foreign Office.
During the historic visit, the prime minister will hold discussions focusing on enhancing cooperation in the spheres of economy, trade, defense, and energy. The last time a Pakistani prime minister visited Russia on a bilateral visit was in March 1999 during the tenure of Nawaz Sharif. Since then, there have been multiple informal meetings between the Russian president and Pakistani leaders on the sidelines of multilateral forums.
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PM Imran and Russian President Putin have exchanged multiple telephone calls in recent times as well. However, no meeting was held on the sidelines in the recently-concluded Winter Olympic Games in Russia.
Last month, Prime Minister Imran Khan held a telephonic conversation with Russian President Vladimir Putin and lauded his “emphatic” statement on blasphemy and Islamophobia. “Just spoke to President Putin primarily to express my appreciation for his emphatic statement that freedom of speech could not be a pretext to abuse our Prophet PBUH,” the prime minister tweeted.
PM Imran Khan said they also discussed ways to move forward on trade and other mutually beneficial cooperation between the two countries and invited each other to visit their countries.
