ISLAMABAD, Nov 14: Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov arrives here on Wednesday for consultations with the Pakistani leadership to give an impetus to bilateral relations that have so far lacked substance.
This will be his first visit to Pakistan. Igor Ivanov was the last Russian foreign minister to come in June 2,003 and his was the first full-scale visit by a Russian foreign minister to Pakistan in 10 years.
Announcing Mr Lavrov’s visit, Russia’s foreign ministry spokesman said on Monday: “Russia is for enhancing constructive cooperation with Pakistan.” He said that the Russian foreign minister besides other issues would discuss in Islamabad “problems of combating international terrorism and other new challenges to the security in the vast region of south, south-west and central Asia.
Mr Lavrov’s official engagements are scheduled for Thursday and include delegation-level talks with Foreign Minister Khurshid Mahmud Kasuri. He will also call on President Gen Pervez Musharraf and meet Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz before leaving for India in the evening.
During his talks, different aspects of bilateral relations and key regional and international matters will be taken up. According to diplomatic sources, questions relating to terrorism, drug trafficking and Afghanistan, all of which have been irritants in Pakistan-Russia relations, will be discussed.
Iran’s nuclear programme, on which Russia has taken a strong position at the United Nations Security Council, will be another key talking point as will be the Indo-Pakistan peace process and the proposed trilateral Iran-Pakistan-India gas pipeline project in which Russia is also keen to participate. Expansion of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, specifically the question of Pakistan’s full membership of the key regional security grouping, will also be discussed.
The growing presence of US and Nato forces in the region and Pakistan’s active cooperation with both has also made Moscow somewhat uneasy. Hence, this is likely to be raised by the Russian foreign minister.
