Prime Minister Imran Khan’s visit to Moscow was ‘very successful’; is ‘of historical significance, and sets a clear direction for the future development of Pakistan-Russia relations on ‘comprehensive and pragmatic cooperative’ basis, reports Daily Times citing a statement by Cheng Xizhong, Visiting Professor of Southwest University of Political Science and Law, also a former Chinese military diplomat in Pakistan. According to the report, Cheng said in the statement on Sunday that Khan’s visit, which was fixed in advance, has many important highlights. First, when the Ukraine crisis erupted, Pakistan observed calmly, ruled out external interference, and the visit was carried out as planned, which reflects the maturity and independence of Pakistan’s diplomacy and has aroused great concern of the international community. The second bright spot of the visit, he noted, is that when Russia was extremely busy with the military moves, President Putin still took as long as three and a half hours to talk with PM Khan, and the foreign ministers of the two countries held separate talks, which shows that Russia and other major powers in the world all attach great importance to Pakistan.
Khan announced on Monday that Pakistan will import about 2 million tons of wheat from Russia and buy natural gas as well under bilateral agreements the two sides signed last week during his official trip to Moscow, reports VOAnews.
The big picture of Khan-Putin meet, according to an observer: Russia is both European & Asian power; Pakistan is set to emerge as major geopolitical pivot; India is on wrong side of global geopolitics; China’s elongated shadow (BRI) falls over South Asia.
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