Daily Times

Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi met with Russia’s Ambassador to Pakistan, Albert P. Khorev, on Tuesday in Islamabad, where both agreed to activate antiterrorism dialogue between their countries.

Pakistan and Russia witnessed a couple of bilateral exchanges last year, including Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin’s visit to Islamabad in October for the 23rd summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation.

“There was an agreement between both countries to activate antiterrorism dialogue,” said a statement issued by the interior ministry after the meeting between Naqvi and Khorev.

According to the ministry, the two leaders also decided to increase cooperation between Pakistan and Russia in countering terrorism and drug trafficking.

“Terrorism is a global challenge and only joint multilateral actions can control this scourge,” the interior ministry statement said.

“We will promote bilateral contacts to further strengthen relations with Russia,” the statement quoted Naqvi as saying. He noted that there were vast opportunities to expand cooperation between the countries in various areas.

Ambassador Khorev also invited Pakistani officers to attend anti-narcotics training programmes in Moscow and Siberia.

They further agreed to “maximise the bilateral exchange of delegations”. Matters of mutual interest and promotion of bilateral relations were discussed during the meeting, the ministry said.

Last week, Pakistan-Russia ties – including exchange programmes for students and boosting tourism – were discussed as Khorev met with a delegation led by Habib Ahmed, honorary consular of the Russian Federation in Lahore.

During the October 2024 visit of PM Mishustin, his counterpart Shehbaz had thanked Russia for supporting Pakistan’s bid to join Brics – the leading Global South bloc – marking a step towards deeper collaboration on the global stage.

The two countries had agreed to pursue robust dialogue and cooperation in areas of trade, industry, energy, connectivity, science, technology and education.

Defence cooperation was also seen in October as Pakistan and Russia held a joint military exercise codenamed Druzhba (Friendship) VII, with both countries vowing to deepen security cooperation during high-level talks held later.

Earlier that month, two agriculture companies from Russia and Pakistan signed barter deals to trade chickpeas and lentils from Russia in exchange for rice, mandarins and potatoes.

The deal came days after the deputy prime ministers of both countries met in Islamabad, where they held delegation-level talks. Deputy PM Alexei Overchuk also met with Chief of Army Staff General Asim Munir to discuss defence cooperation.