Russia’s Honorary Consul in Lahore Habib Ahmed has said that cooperation between Islamabad and Moscow is developing into many directions, as Russia already announced many openings with Pakistan in recent times. “This is the best time in relations between Pakistan and Russia for the last over 70 years, as there is no more defence embargo,” he said while talking to journalists at the Honorary Consulate of the Russian Federation here on Monday. In the last several meetings, Islamabad and Moscow held in-depth discussions on avenues of future cooperation. The honorary consul said that the government at centre must work to improve and maintain relations with the Russian administration. “Pakistan’s policymakers must engage with Russians to make the relationship more balanced and trustworthy,” he said, adding Russia praises Pakistan’s efforts for regional peace and was determined to give practical assistance to this South Asian nation. To a question, Habib Ahmed credited improved relations to regular exchanges of high-level delegations between Pakistan and Russia. He also said that the volume of bilateral trade has increased and Russia was working to help Pakistan build about 1,100-kilometre gas pipeline linking Karachi to Lahore. To another question, he said the Russian companies had already developed different projects in Pakistan. He also announced a Language Centre at Russia’s Honorary Consulate in Lahore to assist students and other professionals learn Russian language. “I believe that learning Russian language will remove the language barrier and give a chance to professionals especially business persons and students to approach and explore Russia easily,” he said. Published in Daily Times, February 5th 2019.