Russian Foreign Minister to visit Pakistan on October 3

After Russian President Vladimir Putin cancelled his visit, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Viktorovich Lavrov will arrive in Islamabad on Wednesday for bilateral consultations.

According to the Foreign Office, the Russian minister is coming for two days on the invitation of Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar.

The latest development follows cancellation of Putin’s trip to Islamabad scheduled for Oct 2-3 and coincides with Army Chief Gen Ashfaq Parvez Kayani’s visit to Moscow.

FO Spokesperson Moazzam khan while speaking to the media dispelled the impression that Lavrov’s visit had been planned to deal with the fallout of the cancellation of Putin’s visit.

He made it clear that Khar had extended the invitation during her visit to Moscow in February
this year.

He noted, “The forthcoming visit of Foreign Minister Lavrov would provide an opportunity to further expand and intensify the existing mutually beneficial bilateral ties.”

He further stated, “The two countries also share the common objective of peace and stability in the broader region and attach importance to regional connectivity both in terms of trade and energy cooperation.”

He informed that the Russian Foreign Minister besides holding bilateral consultations with his counterpart is also scheduled to call on President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf.

The announcement of Foreign Minister Lavrov’s visit coincided with the signing by the two countries of three memoranda of understanding relating to expansion of Pakistan Steel Mills and cooperation in railways and water and power sector projects.

The first memorandum is about modernization, reconstruction and expansion of production capacity of the Pakistan Steel.

Russia’s Tyazhpromexport Company will carry out technical audit. The financial and technical terms of the project will be finalised during visit to Moscow by a Pakistani delegation.

Under the MoU on railways, Russia will explore opportunities of cooperation with Pakistan Railways, particularly a joint venture for manufacturing passenger carriages. Russia will also participate in a tender to be floated for the supply of carriages.

The third MoU concerns Russian investment in energy sector. The Russian Federation will cooperate in converting Jamshoro and Muzaffarabad thermal power plants from furnace oil into coal.

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Posted by Faisal Farooq on Oct 2 2012. Filed under National, Pakistan. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.