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Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif met with Russian President Vladimir Putin on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Council of Head of States meeting. The two leaders discussed the expansion of bilateral cooperation between Pakistan and Russia in areas including trade, energy, defence, and security.
What is the Shanghai Cooperation Organization?
The Shanghai Cooperation Organization was established in 2001 by China and Russia to discuss security concerns in Central Asia and the wider region, Other members are Iran, India, Pakistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. Observer states and dialogue partners include Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Egypt.
Prime Minister Shehbaz reaffirmed Pakistan’s commitment to strengthening multi-dimensional cooperation with Russia and emphasized overcoming financial and banking challenges to expand bilateral trade beyond the current $1 billion. He also thanked Russia for a recent oil shipment to Pakistan and expressed a desire to continue such collaborations.
The prime minister held meetings with United Nations (UN) Secretary General Antonio Guterres, Turkiye President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev, Tajikistan President Emomali Rahmon, Kyrgyzstan President Sadyr Japarov, and Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko.
The meeting, described as “warm and cordial,” covered bilateral relations with a special focus on trade, economic relations, and energy, as well as important regional and global issues. Both sides agreed to convene the next meeting of the Pakistan-Russia intergovernmental Cooperation at Moscow at an early date, and PM Shehbaz extended an invitation to President Putin to visit Pakistan.
President Putin highlighted the cordial relations between the two countries, enhanced by trade linkages, and expressed readiness to promote cooperation in energy and agriculture, as well as food security.
In a separate meeting, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and President Shavkat Mirziyoyev of Uzbekistan reaffirmed their commitment to multifaceted relations, focusing on trade, connectivity, defence, security, culture, and people-to-people contacts. They discussed the importance of the Preferential Trade Agreement and Pakistan-Uzbekistan Transit Trade Agreement in enhancing bilateral trade.
The leaders highlighted Uzbekistan’s role as a transit point for trade expansion and agreed to examine options for enhancing connectivity, including Karachi Port’s connectivity to Tirmez. They also discussed the situation in Afghanistan and the importance of a peaceful and stable Afghanistan for regional prosperity.
The early realization of the Uzbekistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan Railway Project was also emphasized.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s official visit to Tajikistan resulted in the reaffirmation of the commitment to enhance bilateral economic cooperation. During discussions with President Emomali Rahmon, both leaders emphasized the significance of road, rail, and air connectivity, and the early completion of the CASA-1000 power project.
The two countries committed to exploring preferential market access for each other’s goods and conducting expert-level consultations to strengthen trade relations. They also agreed to convene the 7th Session of the Pakistan-Tajikistan Joint Commission on Trade, Economic, and Scientific-Technical Cooperation at the earliest opportunity.
The Strategic Partnership Agreement between Tajikistan and Pakistan was signed, symbolizing deepening mutual trust and opening new avenues for advancing bilateral cooperation. Prime Minister Shehbaz invited the Tajik President to visit Pakistan, and both sides supported each other’s candidature for non-permanent membership of the UN Security Council.
During his visit to Tajikistan, Prime Minister Shehbaz emphasized regional connectivity, proposing that Pakistan host a regional connectivity summit to provide trade corridors to Central Asian countries. He highlighted CPEC as a linchpin for Pakistan’s connectivity with the region, mentioning that Phase-II focuses on infrastructure development, green development, ICT, industrialization, and agriculture modernization.
Both Pakistan and Tajikistan agreed on enhancing cooperation in counter-terrorism, combating trans-national organized crimes, human and drug trafficking. They emphasized the need for a peaceful, prosperous, interconnected, and stable Afghanistan for regional progress.
PM Shehbaz met Russian President Vladimir Putin and called for overcoming financial and banking issues between the two countries by renewing and expanding trade under a barter system.
Speaking during their meeting on the sidelines of the SCO summit, the premier recalled how Pakistan and Russia used to have a bilateral trade and a barter system in the 1950s and 1960s.
“I think today is the time we can overcome financial and other banking issues by renewing our trade and expanding our trade under a barter,” PM Shehbaz told President Putin. “That will be very beneficial to Pakistan and we will able to overcome many problems.”
In his remarks, President Putin said Pakistan and Russia enjoyed cordial relations which had improved due to the trade linkages.
Putin said both countries could enhance their cooperation in energy and agriculture and expressed his readiness to promote cooperation with Pakistan in the field of food security.
Meanwhile, PM Shehbaz also met with Belarus President Aleksandr Lukashenko on the sidelines of the SCO summit.
Both leaders noted positive growth in all aspects of bilateral relations over the past decade and reaffirmed their commitment to further strengthen mutually beneficial cooperation as well as economic and trade relations, Associated Press of Pakistan reported.
Political relationships, trade and investment, military cooperation, and regional issues were among numerous issues discussed, the report said.
It added that the premier highlighted Pakistan’s policy of economic revival through export-led growth, strengthening of public finances, and attracting investment from friendly countries.
In a post on X about the “cordial meeting”, the prime minister noted he congratulated President Lukashenko on Belarus’ membership of the SCO.
Both sides also exchanged views on regional and international developments, he added. “Delighted that President Lukashenko has accepted my invitation to undertake an official visit to Pakistan soon.”
According to state-run Radio Pakistan, PM Shehbaz also met other global leaders, including United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev, Tajikistan President Emomali Rahmon and Kyrgyzstan President Sadyr Japarov.
Prime Minister Shehbaz shared his meetings and discussions on social media, expressing satisfaction at the growing ties between Pakistan and Russia, and highlighting the exchange of views on bilateral cooperation and regional issues during his meetings at the SCO summit in Astana.
This series of engagements reflects Pakistan’s active diplomatic efforts to strengthen regional cooperation and enhance bilateral relations with key countries in the region.
