I was seriously upset and disappointed with the publication in your paper on January 20, 2011 of the article Arctic Antics signed by certain Hassaan Ghazali, consultant on public policy.
The author tried to speculate on a deal recently signed by the Russian company Rosneft and the BP. In our estimate, this deal will seriously contribute to the exploration of oil and gas serves in the Arctic region and will provide both Russia and Europe with additional energy resources.
But surprisingly, the author of the article instead of making an analysis of the economic effects of the deal, focused on looking for the ways how to characterise Russia. He found Russia as populated with spies and thugs that ate them (foreign oil companies) with caviar and a glass of ice cold vodka. I wonder what was the aim of Hassaan Ghazali, who, in my mind, simply rewrote a propaganda article from one of the Western newspapers.
Of course, you can say that freedom of press allows anyone to express an opinion of his own. But my opinion is that freedom requires certain amount of responsibility.
We are trying to develop mutually beneficial bilateral relations and cooperation between Russia and Pakistan. We hope that the first half of the year 2011 will see the official visits of Mr Asif Ali Zardari, President of Islamic Republic Pakistan to Russia. We believe that regular contacts between the leaders of our two countries, including the forthcoming visits, will contribute to the bilateral cooperation in different fields, including energy.
So, let us get rid of the stereotypes, invented in the West, and let us stop looking for radioactive polonium in our morning cuppa. Instead, let us think how two countries and peoples can work together for better future that our two nations surely deserve.
ANDREY DEMIDOV
Consul General of Russia, Karachi