Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf on Thursday said that Russia is a source of peace and stability at both regional and global levels and its growing influence ‘is a positive development for a multi-polar world of today’.
The Prime Minister welcomed a delegation of the Council of Federation of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation led by Ms Valentina Matvienko, Chairperson of the Council at Prime Minister’s House. Mr Andrey Bundnik, Russian ambassador in Pakistan also accompanied the Chairperson.
The PM lauded the expansion in the bilateral relations as well as economic cooperation between the two countries and said that “Pakistan greatly values Russia’s interest to invest in the energy sector of Pakistan. There is a national consensus in Pakistan on building strong relationship with the Russian Federation and we attach great importance to our relations with Russia. Both the countries have initiated a process of building a broad-based long term partnership. We greatly value the support and assistance of Russian Federation in the war against terrorism.”
Ms Valentina Matvienko thanked the Prime Minister for meeting the delegation and said that “Pakistan is an important partner of Russia and plays an important role in international relations”. She added that exchange of visits of the parliamentary delegations of both the countries would help strengthening the bilateral relations. She said that some 2000 Pakistani students have graduated from Russian universities and Russia would welcome more students from Pakistan.
The Prime Minister said that parliaments of both the countries should play pivotal roles in enhancing the relationship between the two countries, adding, that “Pakistan is an ideal country for foreign investors and Russian investors must be encouraged to invest in Pakistan”.
The PM thanked the Russian Federation for signing a memorandum of understanding for expansion and modernization of Pakistan Steel Mills and hoped that the up gradation of the Steel Mills would be completed on time.
