Pakistani Foreign Minister (FM) Bilawal Bhutto Zardari held bilateral talks with his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Council of Foreign Ministers in Goa on Thursday. The two FMs discussed bilateral, regional, and international matters of mutual interest.
Cooperation in Food Security, Energy, and P2P Contact
The FMs assured each other of working in tandem to deepen cooperation in food security, energy and people-to-people contact. Pakistan acknowledged that SCO opens new vistas of cooperation and coordination with Russia.
Among other issues, the countries also discussed the present state of Russian-Pakistani relations and the situation in Afghanistan.
As always great pleasure to meet FM Sergey Lavrov of the Russian Federation. This time on the sidelines of SCO-CFM at Goa. Reaffirmed support for SCO & resolved to advance robust dialogue & engagement on multifaceted bilateral cooperation. #PakatSCO #SCO pic.twitter.com/7fN7nQnvKs
— BilawalBhuttoZardari (@BBhuttoZardari) May 4, 2023
A press release from the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated, “The ministers praised Russia and Pakistan’s interaction on the global stage, including at high-profile multilateral platforms such as the United Nations and the SCO. The officials agreed to further expand contacts between the foreign ministries of the two countries.”
Pakistan and Russia recently completed 75 years of the establishment of diplomatic relations. Pakistan has also followed India and China in placing an order to import discounted crude oil from Moscow as Russia redirects oil from the Western markets.
The meeting comes at a time when Pakistan has emerged as a critical defence supplier to Ukraine by providing arms to several Western countries that are helping war-struck Ukraine.
The Pakistani FM also met his counterparts from Tajikistan and Uzbekistan on the summit’s sidelines.
No Bilateral Talks with India
Before landing in India, Zardari said his visit was “focused exclusively on the SCO.” Husain Haqqani, the former Pakistani ambassador to the US, remarked, “The visit doesn’t mark a thaw in ties.”
#WATCH | EAM Dr S Jaishankar welcomes Pakistan's Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari for the Meeting of the SCO Council of Foreign Ministers in Goa pic.twitter.com/TVe0gzml1U
— ANI (@ANI) May 5, 2023
Michael Kugelman of US think-tank The Wilson Center said that looking at the visit through a multilateral lens was best.
As expected, the Indian and Pakistani FMs held no bilateral talks. However, the two ministers shook hands at the dinner hosted by Jaishankar on Thursday. With this visit, Zardari became the first Pakistani FM to visit India since 2011.