Daily Times

MULTAN: Foreign Minister Makhdoom Shah Mahmood Hussain Qureshi on Monday said that Pakistan’s relations with Russia were gradually improving.

In a statement issued here, Foreign Minister observed that Russia was an important country in the region and enjoyed an important role in UN Security Council.

“We are pursuing economic priorities”, said Qureshi. He added that Russia had its influence with Central Asian states. “We are looking forward to expanding ties with the Central Asian States, remarked Foreign Minister.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov visited Pakistan and had an excellent meeting with him at the Foreign Office, he said. Similarly, I visited Russia at the invitation of the Russian Foreign Minister, added Qureshi. Russia is playing an important role in the peace and stability of Afghanistan.

Foreign Minister observed that the upcoming visit of Prime Minister Imran Khan to Russia would be of utmost importance. During the visit, various aspects of bilateral relations will be discussed in detail.  Russia can invest in the North-South Gas Pipeline project.

“We have good relationships with the United States.  The State Department said in a statement that Pakistan was our strategic partner,” he said and added, “Pakistan has long been allied with the United States”.

During PM’s visit to China, the Prime Minister was invited to visit Russia, said Qureshi. Germany, Europe’s largest economy, also invited PM Imran Khan.

Similarly, the 27-nation alliance, the European Union, has also invited the Prime Minister. He informed that the Organization of Islamic Countries’ Foreign Ministers will also visit Pakistan again on March 22/23 and will witness the National Day parade. Pakistan assisted in the evacuation of more than 90,000 people from Afghanistan and the whole world was acknowledging, Shah Mehmood remarked.

Commenting on Opposition, he said that the opposition did not trust one another. It is divided on the issue of the no-confidence motion. One group is in favor of the no-confidence motion while the thinks that it would be a futile endeavor. “I think Opposition will fail”, he said.

He added that Pakistan People Party was not ready for elections yet. Similarly, PML N is divided into two groups. One group wants immediate elections, which is being represented by Maryum Nawaz. However, the other group is led by Mian Shahbaz Sharif and it was somewhat convincing for the no-confidence motion.

PML N leadership has contacted PML Q. Now, the PML N narrative had been buried. PML N was claiming that elections were not transparent. Qureshi posed the question of why PML N leadership went to those who were part of the government. Qureshi hinted that PML N voters were very much confused. The voters were unable to understand the politics of the PML N. Qureshi maintained that PML N was suffering from some psychological stress.

The PML N leadership is trying to put pressure as it seems that it will not be possible to take any more data related to the case.