Putin called Pakistan one of the priority partners in Asia

MOSCOW, 15 Sep — PRIME. Russia views Pakistan as one of its priority partners in Asia, and relations are developing in an absolutely positive way, Russian leader Vladimir Putin said.

“I would like to note that we consider Pakistan one of our priority partners both in Southeast Asia and in Asia as a whole. Relations between our countries are developing in an absolutely positive way, and we are very pleased,” the Russian President said at a meeting with Pakistani Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif.

Putin also expressed hope that the parties would be able to find ways to increase trade. “The first thing we should pay attention to, of course, is trade and economic ties. Unfortunately, we must state that as a result of the pandemic, we experienced a slight decrease in trade over the past year,” the head of the Russian state recalled.

In addition, the President of Russia noted the possibility of delivering Russian pipeline gas to Pakistan.

“There are very interesting and large-scale projects. This is the so-called Pakistan Stream. It is about creating the necessary infrastructure for the supply of liquefied natural gas. We are talking about the supply of pipeline gas from Russia to Pakistan – and this is also possible, bearing in mind that part the infrastructure has already been created – this is Russia, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan. We need to resolve the issue with Afghanistan,” Putin said.