Pakistan and Russia agreed to support stability as well as peace in Afghanistan and reaffirmed their support for Afghan-led and Afghan-owned efforts towards promoting national reconciliation in the country.
Foreign Office stated on Wednesday that several important regional and bilateral issues were discussed in the meetings between the visiting Pakistan Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar and Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.
“Expressing their deep concerns about the threat of terrorism and drug-related crimes persisting in the region, representing a serious challenge to peace and stability, the two sides agreed to continue their cooperation in this regard,” the statement added.
During the visit, the two sides held in-depth discussions on a range of bilateral matters, as well as important regional and international issues of mutual interest. The two foreign ministers also reviewed the progress made on the understandings reached between the leadership of the two countries during President Asif Ali Zardari’s official visit to Moscow in May 2011 and Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani’s meeting with his Russian counterpart on the sidelines of the SCO’s Heads of Government meeting in November last year.
Taking note of the considerable progress made in the political and security dialogue and intensification of high-level contacts in recent years between the two countries, the foreign ministers reaffirmed their commitment to build a long-term and broad-based partnership between Russia and Pakistan.
They agreed that there existed a large potential for further enhancing bilateral cooperation, particularly in trade, investment, energy and agriculture.
They also expressed satisfaction at the outcome of the meeting of the Joint Working Group on Energy Cooperation held in Moscow last year.