• Russian FM calls on PM, COAS
• Lavrov, Qureshi discuss Afghan peace process, Kashmir issue, trade potential and IGC meeting in Moscow
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan and Russia on Wednesday agreed to boost cooperation in diverse areas including defence and counterterrorism.
An understanding to this effect was reached during talks between the two sides here at the Foreign Office.
Pakistan’s team was led by Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi while the visiting Russian delegation was led by his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov.
During the talks, the foreign ministers reviewed the entire gamut of the bilateral relationship, besides having an in-depth discussion on situation in the war-torn Afghanistan.
Pakistan, Russia agree to boost defence ties
Pakistan and Russia on Wednesday agreed to boost cooperation in diverse areas including defence and counterterrorism.
An understanding to this effect was reached during talks between the two sides here at the Foreign Office.
Pakistan’s team was led by Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi while the visiting Russian delegation was led by his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov.
Pleased to welcome Foreign Minister #SergeyLavrov to the Foreign Office today for excellent meetings. Building multi-dimensional relations with Russia is a key priority for Pakistan and we believe a strong relationship contributes to regional stability and global security. pic.twitter.com/3mX6nKT6YT Shah Mahmood Qureshi (@SMQureshiPTI) April 7, 2021
RED ZONE FILES: Pakistan-India backchannel move inches forward
There is cautious optimism in Islamabad that the thaw in relations with India is holding steady despite some wrinkles in the last few days. The confidence emanates from the fact that there is more to this thaw between the two adversarial neighbours than is known publicly.
According to Red Zone insiders who have been monitoring these developments very closely, the haphazard outcome generated last week by the meetings of the Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) and the federal cabinet injected an element of uncertainty in the ‘thawing process’ under way between Pakistan and India. However, these insiders say that while the process may have hit a temporary bump, it has not derailed. One reason for this confidence is that too much time and effort has already been invested by both sides into the quiet process of backchannel engagement.
The impulsive decision-making on economic and regional trade issues marked the fragile nature of the country’s political economy last week as inflation surged to 9.01 per cent in March from 5.7pc in January.
In one of the most mercurial moments, the federal cabinet rejected a decision of its Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) that had approved the revival of trade relations with India by allowing imports of sugar, cotton and cotton yarn through land and sea routes to address rising prices and shortages.
This was surprising given the fact that the “prime minister in his capacity as minister-in-charge for commerce has seen and authorised the submission of the summary to the ECC of the cabinet after adding criteria for (the) allocation of quota to commercial importers”.
The writer is a former editor of Dawn.
EVEN when the opposition PDM alliance, in the form we have known it, is collapsing, the question being asked is if the governing PTI really needs enemies given its incredible propensity to cause self-harm as the events of the past few days have demonstrated again.
The governing party is being confronted with the rude awakening that holding sway over social media with an untold number of dedicated supporters, that those opposed to the party term a ‘troll army’, is easy, but governance and delivery is another story.
To be honest, it is easy to target and rubbish the PTI’s policy decisions, its multiple U-turns that one social media user said had started to resemble a doughnut, and its inept handling of the economy, but it is not that easy to call a spade a spade in terms of the party’s backers.