Dear friends, Let me spread my sincerest congratulations on the occasion of Pakistan’s Independence Day!
76 years ago your nation emerged as a sovereign state inspired by the great vision of Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah. Through a short period in historical perspective, it witnessed different times and faced numerous struggles. However, against all odds Pakistan emerged even stronger and more resilient in face of multiple challenges. Today, Pakistan is a responsible country with a diverse and young population. It is a key player in the international arena, an important voice in the Islamic World, and an emerging economic power. Moreover, there are no words to describe your magnificent culture, nature and cuisine! Therefore, Pakistan has plenty of achievements to be proud of and is full of untapped potential to be realized.
I shall point out that your country has gained independence in its genuine sense. We welcome the balanced and reasonable position of Pakistan on many issues on the international agenda. It is evident that the Government of Pakistan prioritizes its own national interests in the foreign policy. One of the reflections of this constructive approach is a dynamically developing and mutually beneficial partnership with the Russian Federation. Let me remind you that this year we also celebrate the 75th anniversary of the establishment of the relations between Russia and Pakistan. Despite all the complicated entanglements in the world politics during the Cold War and after the disintegration of the Soviet Union, we managed to preserve our diplomatic relations and never break them off. Furthermore, I should emphasize that the history of the cooperation between our nations started even before Pakistan’s Independence, when its soldiers fought against Axis countries as part of an Allies coalition during the World War II. We will never forget the heroic deed of our Pakistani friends!
During the brief history of the relations between our nations, a plenty of milestones were achieved. To name a few, Tashkent Declaration signed in 1966 with the assistance and mediation of the Soviet Union, the launch of Pakistan Steel Mill in 1973 and building of a Guddu Thermal Power Station in 1980-s. However,
in 2023 there has been a major breakthrough in our partnership. It started with a couple of very productive high-level contacts. Precisely, Russia-Pakistan Intergovernmental Commission on Trade, Economic, Scientific and Technical Cooperation held in Islamabad on January 18-20 and the meeting between Pakistani Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari and his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov on January 30 in Moscow. Not to mention that in February Russian President Vladimir Putin during his address to the Federal Assembly put a special emphasis on Pakistan as one of the countries with which we are eager to strengthen partnership. This was immediately followed by a number of groundbreaking bilateral ventures such as the direct shipping line from St. Petersburg to Karachi and the supply of Russian crude oil. In addition, Pakistan also passed a special order to allow barter trade with Russia and a two-way trucking line from Pakistan to Russia was launched shortly after that. We should not forget the delegation level talks between the Chairman Senate of Pakistan Sadiq Sanjrani and Russian Federation Council Speaker Valentina Matvienko on June 6-7 in Moscow. This has been an extremely fruitful year in our cooperation so far and we do not plan to slow down the progress!
On the occasion of Independence Day I would like to wish my Pakistani friends prosperity, success and fulfilment of your dreams!
Pakistan Zindabad!
