Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev met on Monday with his Pakistani counterpart Imran Khan on the sidelines of the China International Import Expo (CIIE), calling the meeting a useful opportunity to discuss bilateral cooperation prospects.
SHANGHAI (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 05th November, 2018) Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev met on Monday with his Pakistani counterpart Imran Khan on the sidelines of the China International Import Expo (CIIE), calling the meeting a useful opportunity to discuss bilateral cooperation prospects.
"Glad to greet you and congratulate you with the appointment to the post of prime minister. Pakistan is our big and very promising partner, therefore such a meeting will be undoubtedly useful even in the format of talks on the sidelines of the [Expo]," Medvedev said during the meeting on the margins of the first CIIE in Shanghai.
Medvedev stressed that the meeting was a good opportunity to discuss the current state of bilateral relations and explore "some new ideas [of cooperation] that could be implemented." He also wished Khan success in his work.
Khan, in turn, thanked Medvedev and noted that Pakistani-Russian relations had reached a new qualitative level.
Russian-Pakistani trade in 2017 amounted to $541 million, while Russian exports totaled $261 million, showing a 96 percent increase. Trade and economic relations are carried out on the basis of the intergovernmental agreement on cooperation, which provides for most-favored-nation treatment in trade and navigation.
According to the meeting's materials, Pakistan backs Russia's potential participation in the Central Asia-South Asia power project, commonly known as CASA-1000, in case of consent of other nations concerned. The project will allow for surplus electricity exports from Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan to Pakistan and Afghanistan.
The sides are also considering possible participation of Russian corporations in the projects for construction of Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India Pipeline (TAPI) and Iran-Pakistan gas pipeline, the materials said.
