ISLAMABAD – Prime Minister Imran Khan will visit Russia later this month, Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi confirmed on Monday.
Khan will be the first Pakistani premier to visit Moscow in 23 years after former premier Nawaz Sharif, who travelled to the north Asian country following the end of the Cold War.
Besides Sharif, former presidents Pervez Musharraf and Asif Ali Zardari had also visited Russia.
Foreign Minister Qureshi made the announcement about PM Imran Khan’s visit while briefing media about the premier’s recent visit to China.
He said that Russian President Vladimir Putting had invited Khan to Moscow, adding that the move showed “positive change” in bilateral relations of the two country.
PM Imran Khan, accompanied by a high-level delegation, had arrived in Beijing on Friday, after which he attended the opening ceremony of the Beijing Winter Olympics in a show of solidarity with China as several Western countries had announced a diplomatic boycott of the event.
Referring to a joint statement issued by Pakistan and China about PM Imran Khan’s recent visit, he said that the statement proved that the China tour was successful.
Qureshi said that Pakistan and China agreed to speed up the work on the second phase of the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CEPC).
The foreign minister said it was decided that a meeting of the neighbouring counties of Afghanistan will be held in Beijing by the end of the next month to discuss the future strategy. He said the Afghan interim government will also be invited to the meeting.
Read more: https://pakobserver.net/imran-xi-jinping-review-pak-china-bilateral-coop/
