September 07, 2007	Friday	Sha'aban 24, 1428

ISLAMABAD, Sept 6: Deputy chief of mission of the Russian embassy Artem Rudnitsky on Thursday said Pakistan and Russia enjoyed very cordial relations and stressed that these ties be expanded to different fields.

He expressed these views in a press conference here at the embassy. There is a big scope for establishing strong bilateral relations between the two countries, he said. Mr Artem said that events like sports and people-to-people contacts would strengthen the existing ties to the benefit of both the countries.

On this occasion, he introduced a five-member team of mountaineers who conquered K-2 from a different route making a world record. The mountaineers included head of the expedition Victor Kozlov, senior coach Nikolai Tatmyanin and other members Nikolai Chernyi, Igor Borisenko and Pavel Shabalin.

The deputy chief of mission hoped the expedition would not only strengthen sports relations between Russia and Pakistan but also political relations between them. That the expedition has been sponsored by one of the main Russian political parties, United Russian Party, speaks volume of the importance of this event, he noted. Similarly, Russian president Vladimir Putin also took keen interest in this expedition, which further raises its significance.

To a question he said the Russian president himself was a sportsman adding that he had strong liking for such events.

He appreciated the assistance extended to the climbers by Pakistan. He said that despite its internal problems, Pakistani government and especially the ministry of interior provided all support and assistance to the team members which enabled them to successfully conquer the high mountain.

Describing their experience, head of the expedition Victor Kozlov said they started preparations for climbing this peak about three years back. For this purpose, the expedition team first visited Pakistan in 2005. Then in May, they arrived here to embark upon this adventure, he said. It took four months to conquer the peak.

Mr Kozlov was all praise for Pakistan and its people calling them hospitable, sincere and peaceful. “I was surprised to see the warm welcome here and the assistance provided to us for this expedition”, he added. He said that some media had been resorting to biased reporting about Pakistan which had nothing to do with reality.