Russia's bilateral relations with Pakistan have strengthened: Russian Consul General
Pakistan
Russia's bilateral relations with Pakistan have strengthened: Russian Consul General
KARACHI (Sana Fatima) - The Consul General of Russia in Karachi, Mr. Andrey Fedorov while giving an exclusive interview to Dunya News cleared that his earlier statement about providing oil to Pakistan was misinterpreted by media. “It is the Russian government which can only decide if they want to sell oil to Pakistan on cheaper price,” he cleared.
He said,“Russia is interested in developing relations with entire world including Pakistan. Russia considers Pakistan as a friendly country and when friendly countries have a discussion at negotiation table they agree on everything.”
Responding to a question, he replied it was just an excuse if someone said that Pakistan did not have refineries to treat Russian crude oil.
Talking about bilateral cooperation in economic sphere, Mr. Andrey Fedorov mentioned the role of Western anti-Russian sanctions that negatively affected international economic activities of Russia, including trade with Pakistan, but it could be overcome by strong will and wish from both sides.
Informing about the bilateral trade volume between Pakistan and Russia, the consul general said it was 697 million USD in 2021, and in comparison with 2020, it suffered a 12% decrease. This slump happened mostly due to Covid -19 lockdowns and supply chain disruptions related to it. “As for the steps to increase the trade volume, Russia and Pakistan have to broaden the dimension of their economic cooperation. Both the countries have a lot of untapped potential in almost every sphere of trade partnership.” He assured.
The Russian envoy mentioned there were many opportunities in pharmaceutics. Pakistan was particularly interested in buying Russian cancer medicine due to its high effectiveness and reasonable price, unfortunately due to the western anti-Russian sanctions the supply of this medicine was halted, however they were working to put it back on track.
The Consul General mentioned that his government was closely monitoring the developments around Pakistan Steel Mills. “We are waiting for completion of international tender auction and ready to share necessary information with Russian companies to prepare their offers for participation in the revival and modernization of PSM,” adding that China-Pakistan Economic Corridor and its special economic zones provided tremendous opportunities for enhancing our bilateral trade and investment.
The Consul General said Pakistan and Russia could receive another boost as last week Pakistan’s Finance Minister Dr. Miftah Ismail had expressed Pakistan government’s interest to buy Russian oil. “Russia is open for cooperation with any political party as long as the relations are mutually beneficial and constructive,” he maintained.
As for the energy sphere, he highlighted the importance of the development of the flagship project of Pakistan Stream Gas Pipe Line, mutually beneficial for both countries. “This pipeline from Karachi to Lahore is aimed to solve Pakistan’s energy crisis, and Russia is ready to all the necessary assistance for practical implementation of this crucial project,” he reaffirmed.
Speaking about the situation in Ukraine, Russian consul general said the interference of Western countries especially USA was fueling the conflict and making everything to prolong it by supplying weapons and mercenaries. “Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is under severe American pressure and is listening to Washington and London.” Mr. Fedorov said.
He mentioned that any war eventually finished with peace and sooner or later the other side would understand that the there was no other option but peaceful agreement.
While talking about the anti-Russian sanctions, Mr. Andrey Fedorov pronounced them illegal as he said only the UN Security Council could impose sanctions on any country. He added nobody seemed to care when thousands of civilians die in Syria, Iraq, Yemen and Palestine, there were no such sanctions aimed at western countries when they launched their military operations. He called it double standards and global hegemony of the west.
He stressed out that even though the sanctions were serious, Russia had not been weakened by them. “The national currency is strong and the economy as a whole has not been crippled.” He informed.
Mr Andrey Fedorov questioned the role of western media which according to him was not impartial. He also slammed restrictions on Russian news channels by western countries and called it an atrocious attack on the freedom of press and right to information of a democratic society.
