Russia, Pakistan agree to boost cooperation in trade, energy

KARACHI, Pakistan

Russia and Pakistan on Wednesday agreed to maintain "close" cooperation in the fields of trade, industry, energy, connectivity, science, technology and education.

The agreement was reached in a meeting between Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and his Russian counterpart Mikhail Mishustin on the sidelines of a summit of Shanghai Cooperation Organization's (SCO) heads of government that ended in Islamabad on Wednesday, said a statement issued by Pakistan's Prime Minister Office..

Mishustin is the first Russian premier to visit Islamabad since 2007.

The two leaders also agreed on lingual exchanges among the two countries to enhance people-to-people relations and increase cooperation among their banking sectors to facilitate trade and investment, according to the statement.

"The prime ministers discussed the entire spectrum of bilateral cooperation and noted the positive momentum in Pakistan-Russia relations over the last two decades," the statement added, referring to increasing economic and defense ties between the two countries.

Russia last year agreed to provide crude oil to Pakistan at discounted rates to meet Islamabad's rising domestic and industrial energy needs.

Sharif reaffirmed Pakistan’s commitment to strengthening political, economic, and defense ties with Russia as the two sides agreed to enhance cooperation at multilateral forums, including the SCO.

He also thanked Moscow for supporting Pakistan’s BRICS membership bid.

Mishustin, for his part, expressed his desire to further bolster the existing cooperation between Russia and Pakistan to the "next level."

Russia's Deputy Prime Minister Alexei Overchuk visited Pakistan last month.