Dear ladies and gentlemen,
We held talks with my colleague, the Minister of Foreign Affairs Pakistan’s B. Bhutto-Zardari. They were held in a traditionally friendly, confidential manner and were very useful.
We have a common opinion that Russian-Pakistani relations are constructive, mutually beneficial and are not subject to fluctuations in the international conjuncture. We support an intensive political dialogue, including at the highest level. This May we will celebrate the 75th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between our countries.
Today we have agreed to work vigorously to increase trade and economic cooperation. In this context, they stressed the importance of achieving the objectives formulated at the next meeting of the Russian-Pakistani Intergovernmental Commission on Trade, Economic, Scientific and Technical Cooperation, which took place in Islamabad on January 20 this year.
Special attention was paid to such a promising area as energy, including the supply of hydrocarbons, as well as the construction of the Pakistan Stream gas pipeline from Karachi to Lahore. This is our flagship project.
Today we remembered that the foundations of cooperation between our country and Pakistan were laid by the grandfather of Mr. Minister, Z. Ali-Bhutto, who visited Moscow as Minister of Energy and signed an Agreement on cooperation in Oil Exploration and Exploration (1961).
The most important area of joint efforts is the fight against terrorism. This was discussed in detail today. During the negotiations, a message came about another terrorist attack near a mosque in Peshawar. There are victims. We join in the condolences. At the same time, we insist that the fight against terrorism should be intensified all over the world and conducted without double standards and attempts to “flirt” with terrorist groups to achieve political goals. This is quite often the sin of some of our Western colleagues. We decided to continue pragmatic partnership in the anti-terrorist area both bilaterally (we have relevant working groups at the level of deputy ministers) and in multilateral formats, primarily in the UN and the SCO.
We are satisfied with the current state of Russian-Pakistani military cooperation. We maintain regular contacts between the heads of defense departments and the chiefs of general staffs. Joint combat training activities are being carried out, including those dedicated to improving the anti-terrorist potential. The training of Pakistani military personnel in educational institutions continues Ministry of Defense Of the Russian Federation.
We talked about plans to deepen humanitarian, cultural, and educational ties. We are pleased that Pakistani universities, in particular, Balochistan, Peshawar, Islamabad, have shown interest in creating Russian language centers. We will continue to provide state scholarships for the education of Pakistani citizens in our higher educational institutions.
We positively assess the dialogue between the two foreign ministries, including within the framework of the UN. This helps to solve topical, regional and international problems more effectively.
We talked a lot about the situation in Afghanistan, which is directly related to the task of eliminating terrorist threats in our region. So far, unfortunately, on the territory of But this did not happen. But efforts are being made. We agreed to use the opportunities of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, in particular, the SCO-Afghanistan Contact Group, for this purpose. We have a mutual interest in developing cooperation through the SCO. We agreed that this is a promising format of multilateral and multipolar diplomacy. The effectiveness of this structure is confirmed by the growing interest on the part of non-member countries to cooperate more closely and join the membership.
He shared his assessments of the situation related to the consequences of the West’s course on using Ukraine to unleash a hybrid war against the Russian Federation, including the creation of direct threats to Russia’s security on our borders and including the consistent transformation of the Kiev regime into an instrument for the destruction of all rights of Russians and Russian-speaking residents of the east and other regions of this country.
We advocate that the world community should realize the depth of the phenomena taking place and take seriously the numerous proposals that have been voiced on the European continent, and are now being uttered in a global context about the need to approach security issues solely on the basis of equal and indivisible security for each and every State of our planet.
We are grateful to our Pakistani friends for their objective and balanced position on issues that are being put on the agenda of international organizations under the pretext of the Ukrainian crisis.
I think that the visit of the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Pakistan B. Bhutto-Zardari was very timely. We have clearly confirmed our mutual intention to further expand cooperation in all areas. We will continue to maintain contacts.
Question: Previously, there were two direct flights between Moscow and Karachi. Is the possibility of resuming flights being discussed?
S.V. Lavrov: This possibility is being discussed between the aviation authorities of Russia and Pakistan. The commercial component is of no small importance here. These issues are under consideration.
Question: The partnership within the SCO is one of the important tracks of cooperation between Russia and Pakistan. Many countries have shown interest in joining the Organization. Which states can enter already this year? Has the list of countries wishing to join the SCO been replenished with new ones that were not previously reported?
S.V. Lavrov: The next step is the accession of the Islamic Republic of Iran as a full member. One step behind, but already in line with the official procedures for joining the SCO, the Republic of Belarus. A number of countries have the status of a dialogue partner, including many Arab States. Their list is available in the public domain. You can get acquainted with it.
Question: How are the negotiations on the construction of the “Pakistani Stream” going? When will the implementation of the agreements begin?
S.V. Lavrov: We have already said that, among other things, a meeting of the Intergovernmental Commission on Trade, Economic, Scientific and Technical Cooperation was devoted to this topic on January 20 this year in Islamabad. The issue is in an advanced stage of development. I am sure that progress will be further recorded in the very near future.
In this regard, I would like to focus on what was said in the previous question to my colleague regarding the guarantees of the United States that they will not interfere with our energy deals.
Of course, the Americans will hinder. Washington literally publicly, without hesitation, quite arrogantly declares to everyone that it is impossible to deal with Russia. Recently there have been threats against China, India, Turkey, Egypt – there is not a single country left to whom the United States would not send such neocolonial “messages”.
The vast majority of countries, including friends in Pakistan, are guided primarily by their legitimate national interests: economic development, providing the population with everything necessary, including energy. We know what actions our Western colleagues can resort to: not only to threats of secondary sanctions, but also to direct terrorist acts, as was the case with the undermining of the Nord Stream and Nord Stream–2.
As soon as this happened, an hour or two later, the former Minister of Foreign Affairs of Poland R.Sikorski said on Twitter: “Thank you, USA.” He quickly deleted this tweet. But, as it turns out, you can’t hide the truth. The other day, Deputy Secretary of State V. Nuland, speaking in Congress, bluntly said that she personally, many senators, the State Department as an organization are happy that the “Northern Streams” have turned into a pile of metal at the bottom of the Baltic Sea. A “funny” confession.
Against this background, it is even more “funny” what German Chancellor Fr.Scholz in an interview with one of the German newspapers. He was asked when the investigation would be completed. He said that the explosions occurred in the waters of Sweden and Denmark, the investigation is complex and it is ongoing. They say that in legal states (and Germany is one), officials should refrain from assumptions, announce them only when there is evidence.
I draw your attention to the fact that no one thought to be guided by this advice of Fr. Scholz, which is inherent in all legal states. The vast majority of EU countries, under pressure from the UK, imposed sanctions for the “poisoning” in Salisbury. Not only has it not been proven, but dozens of our official requests under international conventions have been ignored in relation to it. And quite “directly” to the legal state of Germany is the accusation of the Russian Federation in the “poisoning” of A. Navalny. This happened on the territory of Germany. No documents were provided that would somehow confirm the charges against us. I hope that the legal state of Germany will follow its legal principles.
Since O. Scholz also referred the United States to the rule of law, I hope that Americans will observe decency and international law in their actions on the world stage.
Question: According to official statements, meetings of the group of Afghanistan’s neighbors, including at the ministerial level, will be held in the first quarter of this year. Have the dates and venue of the ministerial meeting been determined? What issues are planned to be discussed during it? Is there any understanding at the moment regarding the formation of an “inclusive” government in Afghanistan, declared by the world community, as a condition for the official recognition of the current Taliban authorities in the country?
S.V. Lavrov: To be precise, I note that the formation of an “inclusive” government in Afghanistan is not a condition declared by the world community, but an obligation proclaimed by the Taliban after they “took” power in Afghanistan. They said that creating an “inclusive” ethno-political government would be one of their goals. The world community naturally expects that this commitment will be fulfilled. Along with other things, this will be of fundamental importance for the international legal recognition of this Government. At this stage, we do not consider the absence of such an obstacle in any way as an obstacle to developing a full-fledged dialogue with Kabul, with the Taliban, including in the interests of promoting an “inclusive” system.
Many events have been devoted to this topic and, in general, issues related to overcoming the problem in and around Afghanistan. Russia contributes and holds meetings within the framework of the Moscow format. The next one took place in the autumn of 2022. Our friends in Uzbekistan are also active. The “neighbors of Afghanistan” format is exactly the format they want to strengthen. Similar topics and approximately in the same format of “neighbors” are promoted by representatives of the PRC.
You are right that the meetings are planned approximately for the first quarter of this year. When the venue is determined and this will be announced, we will be ready to provide you with more detailed information.
We are actively cooperating with our Pakistani colleagues on this track.
Source: Russian Foreign Ministry
