The head of the Russian state had a conversation with the Prime Minister of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, Shahbaz Sharif.
Vladimir Putin: Dear Mr. Prime Minister, Dear colleagues! We are very glad to see you.
Our previous meeting was held a year ago, and it was on the sidelines of the SCO summit in Astana.
I should note that Pakistan has been and remains our traditional partner in Asia. We value the relations that have developed between our countries. I would like to note that during the previous meeting we agreed to intensify our relations, and some things really managed to get off the ground.
However, unfortunately, due to a number of objective circumstances, our trade turnover has decreased somewhat, literally by an insignificant amount. Nevertheless, this is a good signal for us to work, analyze the whole situation and work on it.
But unfortunately, Pakistan is facing more and more cataclysms. We worked next to you, sat at the table during the SCO session, and you talked about it. We really hope that your country, under your leadership, will cope with all these difficulties and problems.
We offer our most sincere condolences to all the people of Pakistan in connection with the severe events and floods. You told me about it recently.
We continue to cooperate on the interparliamentary line. The interaction is ongoing. We cooperate on international platforms. Pakistan is currently serving as a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council, and we are constantly working on this important site.
Dear Mr. Prime Minister, we have Russia is scheduled to hold events within the SCO in November at the level of government leaders. If you find the time and find it possible, we will be glad to see you in Moscow.
Sh.Sharif (as translated): thank you.
Your Excellency, Mr. President, thank you for taking the time in your busy schedule for this meeting. As you quite correctly noted, the last time we met in Astana, it was in July last year.
And I can say with confidence that, working together, we are making significant and sincere efforts to promote our bilateral relations, especially in the field of trade and commerce.
Last year, the bilateral trade turnover increased dramatically. We imported oil from The Russian Federation, which resulted in an increase in bilateral trade.
Our relationship has only been improving over the past many years due to your personal commitment, your personal interest in many things. And I would also like to say that I am determined to strengthen our bilateral ties. It seems to me that we are moving in the right direction.
After our meeting in Astana, a number of delegation visits took place between our two countries. Your Deputy Prime Minister [Alexey Overchuk] visited Islamabad, and there were other Russian delegations that visited Pakistan. Our delegations visited the Russian Federation. More recently, protocols were signed aimed at developing our cooperation in agriculture, steel, iron production, and transport, in particular on the creation of a transport corridor that leads from Belarus through Russia, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, and Afghanistan and ends in Pakistan. It seems to me that this corridor is extremely important.
Your Excellency, I believe that all this combined reflects, without any shadow of doubt, the strong commitment on both your part and ours to the development of our relations.
Thank you for the invitation to visit your beautiful country. I will be extremely glad to be in Of Russia. I have not been to Russia for many years, so I should return to Moscow and remind myself of the memories of my young days.
Your Excellency, let me also thank you for your words of support to Pakistan. I also thank you for trying to promote balancing in the region. I must say that we respect your relations with India, which is absolutely good, but we would also like to establish strong ties with you. They would be complementary in the interests of the prosperity and well-being of the entire region.
I see you as a determined leader. I want to assure you that I wish to work very closely with you.
Vladimir Putin: Thank you.
