PEOPLE of Pakistan would surely welcome repeated over
tures from Moscow to deepen and broaden relationship with Islamabad in a meaningful way. The four- day visit of the 64-member delegation headed by Russian Minister for Trade and Industries to attend Inter-Governmental Commission meeting speaks volumes about growing interest of the Russian Federation to warm up ties with Pakistan in different fields to the mutual advantage.
Russia has been demonstrating its interest to fortify relations with Pakistan in the fields like power, oil and gas and steel. It is, however, regrettable that the pace of progress in realizing plans and commitments into practical projects and programmes is not satisfactory. To quote an example, it was in February this year that a Russian delegation, headed by Gazprom Management Committee Deputy Chairman Vitaly A Markelov, pledged an investment of $14 billion in offshore gas pipeline project, North South Pipeline Project and underground gas storages in Pakistan but concrete progress is not visible as yet. Similarly, Igor Vladimirovich Kim, Chairman of ExpoBank, a leading Russian investment bank offered to invest in Pakistan’s manufacturing sector by introducing innovative technologies such as artificial intelligence to help Pakistan boost its exports to the global market. He particularly showed interest in Pakistan electric vehicle market and this is important in view of the country’s own focus on environment friendly vehicles and launching of the first electric vehicle policy recently. Russian willingness to finance regional energy corridors also offers solution of many problems of Pakistan like energy shortages and earnings through transit fees but here again the progress is lacking due to bureaucratic hurdles and political expediencies. It is learnt that the Russian delegation has several vital proposals to discuss with Pakistani side including laying of railway track from Quetta to Taftan, revamping of Pakistan Steel, North-South Pipeline and closer ties in trade, economic, scientific and technical areas. One hopes these and other proposals would be discussed in a serious manner and taken to fruition on a fast-track basis.
