People from all walks of life, including diplomats, select parliamentarians, and journalists attended the reception hosted by Russian Federation Envoy Alexey Dedov to mark Russian Day at a hotel on Thursday night.
Defence Minister Khawaja Asif was the chief guest on the occasion while the function was also attended by Special Assistant to Prime Minister on Foreign Affairs Tariq Fatemi.
National anthems of two countries were played on this occasion while a cake was cut by the chief guest Khawaja Asif and Russian Federation Ambassador Alexey Dedov along with some other guests.
Special Russian and Pakistani food was served to the guests on this occasion.
Talking to reporters, Asif said Pakistan would improve its bilateral relations with Russian Federation in all fields including trade, economic and defence.
Confirming the interest of Pakistan to buy MI-35 helicopters from Russia, the defence minister said Pakistan would buy important and useful helicopters besides some ‘necessary’ military equipment.
He said the government has adopted a foreign policy to improve its relations with all the countries, based on mutual respect and honour.
Asif said Pakistan will further improve its ties with Russian Federation in future and there will be exchange of delegations at various levels in this regard.
The Russian envoy while talking to journalists, said there has been never any ban on the sale of Russian military equipment to Pakistan.
He said, “There is ongoing cooperation with Pakistan in the field of defence and counter-terrorism and security.”
The ambassador said, “The proposed deal on supply of MI-35 to Pakistan is still being negotiated between Russian and Pakistani defence officials, and hopefully would be finalised soon.”
He said that Adviser on National Security and Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz would be visiting Russia to participate in the 5th International Meeting of High-Level Officials Responsible for Security Matters from June 18 to 20 and he will meet Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov during the visit.
He reiterated the desire of the Russian Federation to strengthen its bilateral relations with Pakistan in all spheres.
