Russian FM Lavrov To Visit Pakistan On Oct. 3-4

Islamabad, Oct 3, IRNA -- The Foreign Minister of the Russian Federation, Mr. Sergey Viktorovich Lavrov, will be visiting Islamabad for bilateral consultations from 3-4 October, the Foreign Ministry has said. He is visiting Pakistan on the invitation of Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar extended during her last visit to Moscow in February this year. During his stay in Islamabad, besides holding bilateral consultations, Foreign Minister Lavrov is also scheduled to call on the President and the Prime Minister, a Foreign Ministry statement said. Lavrvo’s visit was announced day after the Foreign Ministry said that the visit to Islamabad by Russian President Vladimir Putin was postponed, scheduled for this week. He was scheduled to attend the quadrilateral summit, which was planned to be held in Islamabad from Oct 2-3. Leaders from Afghanistan and Tajikistan were scheduled to attend the summit. The forthcoming visit of Foreign Minister Lavrov would provide an opportunity to further expand and intensify the existing mutually beneficial bilateral ties, the Foreign Ministry said. “Pakistan and Russia enjoy an excellent relationship based on mutuality of interest in enhancing greater bilateral cooperation and convergence of views on various important regional and international issues,” it said. The two countries also share the common objective of peace and stability in the broader region and attach importance to regional connectivity both in terms of trade and energy cooperation, the statement said. Recently, the two countries also held their Second Inter-Governmental Commission (IGC) on Trade, Economic, Scientific and Technical Cooperation in Islamabad and discussed concrete proposals on various areas of cooperation including Energy, Industries and Production, Bilateral Trade and Investment, Scientific and Technical Cooperation, Agriculture./end