10 July 2004	Saturday	21 Jamadi-ul-Awwal 1425

MOSCOW, July 9: Foreign Minister Khurshid Kasuri has held talks with his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov and reviewed developments in bilateral, economic and trade relations, says APP.

The two ministers during the three-hour meeting focused on bilateral, regional and international issues. Mr Kasuri briefed the Russian side about the current level of their relations and stressed the need to move forward on the implementation of agreements signed during President Pervez Musharraf's visit to Russia in February 2003.

He also welcomed the Russian role in the up-gradation of Pakistan Steel Mill and its cooperation in other areas of mutual interest. APP quoted Foreign Minister as saying that Pakistan's economy had achieved macro-economic stability as was evident in its economic performance which registered a growth rate of over 6.4 per cent because of attractive investment incentives and an improvement in the country's tax collection system.

Mr Kasuri invited Sergei Lavrov to visit Pakistan which he accepted. The date for the proposed visit would be worked through the diplomatic channel on mutually convenient dates.

Pakistan's delegation included Pakistan's ambassador to Moscow, additional secretary (Europe), director-general and officials of the Pakistan embassy Moscow, while the Russian delegation comprised the foreign minister, ambassador-at-large Alexander Alexeyev and other officials of the Russian foreign ministry.

Later, Kasuri held wide-ranging talks with former Russian Foreign Minister, Igor Ivanov, who is currently secretary of the National Security Council of Russia in Kremlin.

They pledged to further the process of cooperation in various fields of interest. They also discussed the situation in Afghanistan, Iraq and peace process between India and Pakistan.

AFP adds: The Russian foreign minister is learnt to have told his Pakistani counterpart that Moscow had no plans to supply arms to Islamabad, thus keeping to its traditional ties to India. "Russia, so far, has no concrete plans in this area (of providing arms to Pakistan)," RIA-Novosti quoted Lavrov as saying after a meeting with Mr Kasuri.