Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov will hold talks with Pakistani Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari on Monday. The foreign ministers will meet in Moscow.
This is the Pakistani minister's first visit to Russia since taking office. Zardari was sworn in as Pakistan's foreign minister in late April. The diplomat then said he hoped to visit Moscow soon and maintain the positive dynamics in relations with Russia. According to him, this is not only in Pakistan's national interest, but also contributes to peace and stability in the region.
The Russian foreign ministry informs that the two sides will discuss the state of bilateral relations, regional and international issues. Special attention will be paid to the development of trade and economic relations, as the Russian Foreign Ministry's spokeswoman Maria Zakharova announced earlier.
Energy supplies
The ministers' meeting is held against the background of the active work of Russian and Pakistani companies to solve all the remaining issues on energy supplies to the Islamic Republic.
Prior to the talks, it was noted that Russia would prefer future settlements to be made in national currencies or in the currencies of third countries, which are protected from sanctions risks. An official representative of the Russian foreign ministry noted: "Many people are afraid and can't talk about it, but the US currency is a "soap bubble", unsecured money, which is printed even despite the huge national debt of America."
Following the January 18-20 meeting of the Pakistan-Russia Inter-Governmental Commission (IGC) on Trade, Economic, Scientific and Technical Cooperation, held in Islamabad, it was decided to coordinate the issue of oil and gas supplies from Russia until the end of March 2023. Pakistan, as State Oil Minister Musadik Malik said earlier, will start buying crude oil from Russia in April after agreeing on all the commercial terms of its imports. Among them, he also named payment in the Pakistani national currency. According to his estimates, the agreement with Moscow will allow Islamabad to cover up to 35% of its needs in crude oil.
The Russian ministry pointed out that following the Russian-Pakistani IGC the sides agreed to discuss a comprehensive plan for energy cooperation, which provides not only for supplies of energy resources but also for construction of infrastructure. In this regard, Russia intends to submit its proposals on projects in the field of electric power in Pakistan. We may speak about participation in the modernization and construction of hydroelectric and thermal power plants.
Pakistan Stream
One of the key issues of cooperation between the two countries is also the North-South gas pipeline project, which the sides have previously decided to rename Pakistan Stream. In January this year, the head of the Russian energy ministry said that Moscow sees no obstacles for the implementation of this project and is working on a corresponding road map with Islamabad.
The countries signed an intergovernmental agreement on the construction of the North-South gas pipeline in 2015. Its length will be 1.1 thousand km, and the capacity will be up to 12.4 billion cubic meters per year. The pipeline should connect the liquefied gas terminals in the city of Karachi in the south of Pakistan with the city of Lahore in the north. LNG-fired power plants are to be built there.
The parties were to sign commercial agreements in 2016, and the facility was planned to be commissioned by 2018, but the project deadlines have already been postponed several times. On May 28, 2021, Russian Energy Minister Nikolai Shulginov and Pakistani Ambassador to Russia Shafqat Ali Khan signed a protocol on amendments to the intergovernmental agreement of October 16, 2015, on the construction of the Pakistan Stream gas pipeline, which allowed to proceed to the practical implementation of the project.
The Russian side noted that the approach to the implementation of such projects should be comprehensive, which means not only the construction of the gas pipeline itself, but also the availability of a source of gas for it. Now Russia is discussing this project both in terms of transportation of regasified gas and pipeline - from Iran or by TAPI (Turkmenistan - Afghanistan - Pakistan - India).
Russia is not yet in the TAPI project, but Russian Energy Minister Nikolai Shulginov said that Moscow does not deny the possibility of joining. However, according to the minister, first it is necessary to solve several issues related to the safety of the pipeline passing through Afghanistan.
The TAPI project from Turkmenistan to India through Afghanistan and Pakistan has been underway since 2015, but work has been suspended until the situation in Afghanistan is stabilized. The pipeline is supposed to connect Central Asia with the energy-starved countries of South Asia. The designed capacity of the pipeline is 33 billion cubic meters, its length is about 1.8 thousand km.
International problems
The two countries have traditionally focused on the international and regional agenda, cooperation in counter-terrorism, the settlement of the conflict in Afghanistan and the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. The sides also exchanged views on the Ukrainian crisis.
In light of the escalation in the Palestinian-Israeli conflict zone, on January 28, the Russian foreign ministry said that the Russian side as a permanent member of the UN Security Council and the international Quartet of Middle East mediators (Russia, US, UN and EU) is ready to make a significant contribution to its comprehensive settlement. The Russian side is convinced that the deteriorating situation, including the January 27-armed attack on a synagogue in the Neve Yaacov district of East Jerusalem, confirms the need for an urgent resumption of constructive Palestinian-Israeli dialogue and the rejection of unilateral actions.
GSV "Russia - Islamic world"
Photo: Russian Foreign Ministry
Based on materials from TASS