Daily Times

ISLAMABAD: Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi said on Monday that Prime Minister Imran Khan will visit Moscow this month at the invitation extended by Russian President Vladimir Putin, Daily Times reported.

The foreign minister made the announcement about the Russian tour while giving a briefing about the prime minister’s recently concluded visit to China and its outcomes.

He will be the first Pakistani prime minister in 23 years to embark on a bilateral visit to Russia. The prime minister will be accompanied by a high-level delegation of senior ministers from his cabinet.

During PM Khan’s visit, the discussions will focus on enhancing cooperation in the spheres of economy, trade, defense and energy.

The last time an elected Pakistani prime minister visited Russia on a bilateral visit was in March 1999 during the tenure of former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.

Since then, there have been multiple informal pull-aside meetings between the Russian president and Pakistani prime minister at different forums.

PM Imran and Russian President Putin have exchanged multiple telephone calls in recent times as well.

Last month, Prime Minister Imran Khan held a telephonic conversation with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday and lauded his “emphatic” statement on blasphemy.

“Just spoke to President Putin primarily to express my appreciation for his emphatic statement that freedom of speech could not be a pretext to abuse our Prophet PBUH,” the prime minister tweeted.

PM Khan had said they also discussed ways to move forward on trade and other mutually beneficial cooperation between the two countries and invited each other to visit their countries.