Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif will travel to Beijing in November, and he has also accepted an invitation from Russian President Vladimir Putin for a visit to Moscow, showing that the country may maintain a distance from the United States’ adversaries following the ouster of former prime minister Imran Khan.
At a time when efforts are underway to reset the troubled Pakistan-US relationship, a senior adviser of the Secretary of State recently visited Islamabad, indicating that Washington wants to maintain a working relationship with Islamabad. In addition, $450 million worth of F-16 equipment was approved by the Biden administration for sale to Pakistan.
Despite all of this, Shehbaz’s meetings with President Xi and President Putin were significant and showed Pakistan was attempting to keep a delicate balance in its relations with the big powers.
After the meeting between Putin and Sharif, a transcript released by the Russian president’s office showed that Russia was eager to deepen ties with Pakistan. At the same time, Chinese President Xi Jinping, in his maiden meeting with Sharif, described him as being a “person of pragmatism and efficiency”.
Shehbaz also heaped praise on Putin, calling Russia a “superpower” and its president a “man of words”.
Putin began his meeting with Shehbaz by recalling his elder brother Nawaz Sharif’s time as Pakistan’s leader, according to the Kremlin.
According to observers, Shehbaz’s flurry of meetings with Russian and Chinese presidents indicated that Pakistan’s policy of diversification in its foreign policy options remains intact.
Prior to Imran becoming the prime minister, Pakistan had a long-standing relationship with China, but rapprochement with Russia began well before then.
It was a consensus decision by the country’s parliament and other stakeholders in 2011 to reach out to Russia after Islamabad’s relationship hit the lowest ebb because of a series of debacles.
In 2015, Pakistan and Russia signed an agreement to build a pipeline from Karachi to Punjab to import liquefied natural gas. Since that year, successive governments, including PPP and PML-N, have pursued the policy of normalising relations with Russia.
The project fell through due to possible US sanctions but the two parties are still making efforts to make it happen.
Putin and Shehbaz discussed the Pakistan Stream Gas Pipeline project on Thursday.
“There are certain matters we must address, and we see promising avenues in various fields, including railway transport and energy. We have big and intriguing projects, including the Pakistan Stream Gas Pipeline venture, which requires the construction of infrastructure for LNG delivery,” Putin said to Shehbaz.
Putin said that a pipeline from Russia, Kazakhstan, and Uzbekistan to Pakistan could be built, because some infrastructure already exists in those countries.
Shehbaz said that with this kind of cooperation, mutual understanding, and promotion of trade, investment, and other sectors like gas pipelines, Pakistan will profit.
He mentioned that there was a protocol between the two countries signed in 2016-2017 that should be implemented but for some reason, it couldn’t be. He hopes Pakistan will gain from the country’s outstanding potential.
The prime minister said that he had come here with his delegation to propose the matter.
Putin said that Pakistan is a “key partner in Southeast Asia and Asia as a whole”.
He said relations between our countries are developing absolutely positively, and we are glad about that.
Defence Minister Khawaja Asif attended the Putin-Shehbaz meeting and tweeted that the premier’s meetings with Putin and Xi were extremely successful.
He said that both leaders invited Shehbaz on a visit to their respective countries. He did not know the date of Shehbaz’s trip to Moscow, but he confirmed that the prime minister would go on his maiden visit to China in November.
Prime Minister Shehbaz had a meeting on the sidelines of the 22nd SCO Council of Heads of State in Samarkand with Chinese President Xi Jinping.
The phrase “mutual trust and understanding” is used to describe the PM’s meeting with the Chinese president after he was elected.
Chinese President Xi Jinping praised Prime Minister Shehbaz as a “person of pragmatism and efficiency”, as well as a leader with “a longstanding commitment to China-Pakistan friendship”.
The leaders reviewed the range of bilateral ties and discussed important regional and international issues of mutual concern.
Prime Minister Shehbaz expressed his thanks to China for its support during the country’s devastating floods, adding that he felt “beyond words” about the country’s compassion and friendship.
He offered his condolences to President Xi on the loss of life and damage caused by the earthquake in Sichuan Province on September 5, 2022, and he emphasized that Pakistan stands with China against natural calamities.
The prime minister outlined the government’s plans for Pakistan’s ongoing development, the expansion of industrial production, the advancement of agriculture, and the development of regional connections, all of which were particularly impressed by the “revolutionary” results of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor.
The statement said that the leaders welcomed the signing of a protocol to the framework agreement on the ML-1 Railway project, as well.
Shehbaz praised the Belt and Road Initiative and the Global Development Initiative, which he said demanded “collective action for sustainable development and win-win outcomes”.
Prime Minister Modi expressed his personal commitment to take the bilateral relations between China and Pakistan to higher levels. He reaffirmed the enduring nature of these relations.
In light of the significant forum provided by the SCO members to further their shared vision and mutual values into concrete plans for regional cooperation and integration, the premier stressed Pakistan’s unwavering support for China on all issues of its core interest, including Taiwan, Tibet, Xinjiang and Hong Kong.
He also thanked China for its support on issues including sovereignty and territorial integrity, FATF, national development, Covid-19 pandemic, and others.
Prime Minister Shehbaz also had a chance to speak on international relations, climate change, health epidemics, and the growing gap between rich and poor. Shehbaz also praised China’s principled stand on the disputed territory of Indian-occupied Kashmir and thanked them for their assistance in highlighting the human rights violations that are taking place there.
