Daily Times

Prime Minister Imran Khan is set to embark upon a landmark visit to Russia in the last week of this month to discuss the strengthening of bilateral relations in diverse fields, sources in Foreign Office told Daily Times.

Accompanied by a high-level delegation, the Prime Minister during his visit will hold a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin. The discussions will focus on enhancing cooperation in the spheres of economy, trade, defense and energy.

The strategic Stream Gas Pipeline project, formerly known as North South Pipeline, will also be on the agenda of talks and it is expected that the obstacles in the way of execution of project will be removed during delegation levels between the two sides in Moscow. The $ 2.5 billion dollar pipeline project will secure the delivery of 12.3 billion cubic meters (bcm) of natural gas per year from the liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminals in Karachi and Gwadar to the large north-central city of Lahore. Importantly, this project will be the first such large-scale economic initiative between Moscow and Islamabad undertaken since the mid-1970s.

Though the level of engagement between Pakistan and Russia has improved significantly at different levels but this will be first visit of Prime Minister Imran Khan ever since former president Pervez Musharraf undertook the visit to Moscow back in 2003.

In this backdrop, great importance is being given to the visit which is expected to begin a new of bilateral relationship and expansion of cooperation in different fields.

In a recent telephonic conversation, both Prime Minister Imran Khan and Russian President Vladimir Putin also agreed to bolster their cooperation.

The Foreign Office sources were confident that the Russian President is also likely to visit Pakistan by the end of this year which will be a historic moment in the bilateral relations and help take it further on upward trajectory.