Pakistan not 'pursuing or receiving any discounted energy' from Russia: Bilawal
Pakistan
Pakistan not 'pursuing or receiving any discounted energy' from Russia: Bilawal
WASHINGTON – Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari has said Pakistan “is not pursuing or receiving any discounted energy” from Russia, nearly three weeks after a delegation of the South Asian country visited Moscow to discuss an oil agreement.
Last week, State Minister for Petroleum Musaddik Malik said Russia had agreed to provide crude oil to Pakistan at discounted price but did not reveal the exact discount percentage.
Malik at a media talk in Islamabad described the tour to Moscow “more productive than expectations”. In late November, the petroleum minister led a Pakistani delegation to Russia to finalise agreement for oil import as the South Asian country scrambles to control skyrocketing fuel prices in the country.
Before the visit, Finance Minister Ishaq Dar hoped that Pakistan would succeed in inking the agreement on favourable terms. The country’s finance czar said the US could not stop Pakistan from purchasing the Russian oils.
FM Bilawal, who is currently in the US on a seven-day official visit, gave an interview to an international media outlet on Thursday. In reply to a question, he said: “As far as Russia is concerned, we aren’t pursuing or receiving any discounted energy, but we are facing an extremely difficult economic situation, inflation, pump prices.”
“We are exploring various avenues to expand our areas where we can get our energy from,” he said, adding that importing energy from Russian will “take a long time for us to develop”.
In response to another question about ties with China and the US, he said Pakistan would continue to engage with both countries. He said: “China is our neighbor. We have a long history with them. And we have a lot of cooperation, particularly on the economic front.” He also stated that Pakistan also had historical ties with the US.
“We have partnered over the course of history, and I believe, whenever the United States and Pakistan have worked together, we have achieved great things. And whenever there’s been a distance developed between us then we have faltered. So I do think it’s absolutely possible for Pakistan to engage with both China and the US,” stressed.
While talking about Afghanistan, FM Bilawal urged the international community to engage with the war-hit country. “It is something that I have been insisting on, because I believe we shouldn’t repeat the mistakes of the past. The last time in Afghanistan posted the — sort of the Cold War jihad, et cetera, the world up and left. And that left us with more problems and resulted in having to go back all over again.”
When the host asked that the coalition government calling snap elections, Bilawal replied: “No, absolutely”. He said the parliament should complete its term as it would strengthen democratic process in the country.
“We had a government from 2007 to 2013. That Parliament completed its term and peacefully transferred power to the next Parliament, and that Parliament completed its term and transferred the power to this Parliament.”
“I don’t think that it’s a justifiable reason for Pakistan to break that precedent just because Mr. Khan hasn’t remained prime minister for the last six months,” the foreign minister said.
