Islamabad: Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi on Thursday called his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov and expressed Islamabad’s desire to forge a long-term and multi-dimensional partnership with Moscow as the two leaders discussed matters like COVID-19 pandemic and the Afghan peace process.
During their telephonic conversation, Qureshi offered condolences on the loss of precious lives in Russia due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Russia, currently the third worst-hit country from COVID-19, has reported 561,091 confirmed cases. The country’s death toll stands at 7,660,
Matters of mutual interest, including the COVID-19 pandemic, cooperation at the multilateral fora, prospects of enhanced bilateral cooperation, and regional issues were discussed, according to Foreign Office here.
The two Foreign Ministers exchanged views about the socio-economic ramifications about the pandemic. Foreign Minister Lavrov expressed solidarity with Pakistan in its efforts to combat the outbreak. Qureshi underlined that Pakistan considered Russia an important partner and desired to forge a long-term and multi-dimensional partnership with Russia.
Pakistan’s ties with Russia have moved past the bitter Cold War hostilities and the chill in the US-Pakistan relations has further pushed the country towards Russia and China. (PTI)