Chairman Senate Syed Yousaf Raza Gilani on Wednesday said that Pakistan highly values its bilateral relations with Russia and is keen to further strengthen the bilateral cooperation in diverse sectors. Talking to Russian Ambassador Albert Khorev who called on him at the Parliament House, the Chairman Senate expressed his satisfaction at the positive trajectory of bilateral relations between Islamabad and Moscow. However, he observed that there was huge potential for enhancing bilateral cooperation in trade, economy and other areas. Syed Yousaf Raza Gilani observed, “We want to forge a long-term, multidimensional partnership with Russia particularly in the fields of energy, defence, food and people to people contacts. Parliamentary diplomacy carries huge importance and is instrumental in bringing the people together.” Chairman said that Pakistan is rich in agricultural land and we are keen to benefit from the Russian expertise in the field of agriculture. 

The Ambassador agreed with the views of Chairman Senate and said that Russia has huge experience and can assist Pakistan with advance technology to boost the sector. He also invited the Russian Ambassador to visit Multan at a convenient time to witness the rich cultural history of Multan and see the potential of agriculture. The Chairman Senate underscored the need for enhanced parliamentary linkages and said that positive inter-parliamentary cooperation has been established between the two sides which needed to be further consolidated through frequent exchanges. He said that parliamentarians are representatives of the people and they can efficiently bring people closer to work together for socio-economic development. He emphasized that trade relations between the two countries needed to be enhanced further enhanced and we were ready to work with Russia to further promote bilateral trade as there exist enormous potential for expansion and growth of bilateral cooperation in the areas of trade energy and connectivity.

Yousaf Raza Gilani also expressed his views about the regional situation and said that Russia was a key player in the region and we would like to work together for bringing peace and stability in the region and particularly in Afghanistan.  He also thanked Russian leadership, government and the Parliament for their support to Palestinian cause and Kashmir issue. The Russian Ambassador thanked the Chairman Senate for the warm remarks and said that Russia also places relations with Pakistan at high esteem and both the countries have a shared objective of regional development through enhanced trade, linkages and multidimensional cooperation for benefit of the people of two sides. He also presented a letter from the chairperson of the Russian Federation Council Valentina Mativenko expressing greetings to Syed Yousaf Raza Gilani for being elected as chairman senate and  has expressed her desire to work together for building strong ties. The Chairman Senate thanked his counterpart and also expressed his well wishes for parliament, government and people of Russia.

Credit: Independent News Pakistan