Post #1144

🇷🇺🇵🇰 Ambassador Albert P. Khorev's Interview with RIA Novosti Key points: 🔸️Russia welcomes Pakistan's desire to join BRICS. At the moment, it seems promising for Pakistan to participate in the activities of the New Development Bank; 🔸️Our relations with Pakistan have stood the test of time in the face of fundamental changes in the international arena. Western attempts to force Islamabad to abandon its efforts to strengthen ties with Russia have failed; 🔸️Under the Eurasian Security Concept proposed by President Vladimir Putin, Russia is open to strengthening political and economic cooperation with all Eurasian states, including Pakistan; 🔸️Our major strategic goal is to create transportation links that could connect all the countries of the region as part of the Greater Eurasian Partnership; 🔸️Russia brings to the region a positive agenda of bilateral and multilateral cooperation, primarily the implementation of joint infrastructure, energy and other mutually beneficial projects; 🔸️It is up to Islamabad and Kabul to resolve the entire complex of Pak-Afghan relations. Russia, for its part, is always ready to help establish a dialogue between Pakistan and Afghanistan. Both countries are important partners for us; 🔸️We believe in the need to develop counter-terrorism cooperation with Pakistan. We are constantly working together in various formats; 🔸️The 10th session of the Intergovernmental Commission, scheduled for May this year in Islamabad, will be an important milestone in Russian-Pakistani economic cooperation. We aim to set a new record of bilateral trade turnover exceeding $1 billion. However, this will largely depend on the lifting of Pakistan's ban on wheat imports and the Islamic Republic's demand for Russian energy sources. #RussiaPakistan