Russia to support Pakistan’s inclusion in BRICS: Russian Deputy PM

ISLAMABAD: Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexei Overchuk said on Thursday that Moscow would support Pakistan’s inclusion in BRICS, said Reuters News Agency.

“We would be supportive of it,” Overchuk, who is on a two-day visit to Islamabad told a joint press conference with Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar in Islamabad, in response to a question about Pakistan’s request to become part of the grouping of the world’s leading emerging market economies.

BRICS is named after Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. The bloc last year invited Saudi Arabia, Iran, Ethiopia, Egypt, Argentina and the United Arab Emirates to become members, in a move aimed at accelerating its push to reshuffle a world order it sees as outdated.

The two sides also discussed enhancing bilateral trade volume and how to overcome banking constraints for transactions.

Overchuk said that Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin would be attending the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) heads of government meeting in Islamabad next month, which he said would be important.

Overchuk also called on Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif today. The Prime Minister welcomed Deputy Prime Minister Overchuk and his delegation to Islamabad and conveyed that Pakistan considers strengthening relations with Russia as an important priority of Pakistan’s foreign policy.

The Prime Minister said that Pakistan is keen to expand trade, economic, energy, connectivity and security cooperation with Russia and added that he looked forward to welcoming Russian PM Mishustin to Islamabad next month.

The Prime Minister recalled that he had a very fruitful discussion with President Vladimir Putin in July ealier this year and conveyed his thanks to President Putin for sending the high-level delegation to discuss expansion of bilateral cooperation.

DPM Overchuk thanked the PM for the warm welcome and reiterated Russia’s resolve to deepen relations with Pakistan.

He characterized Pakistan-Russia relations as constructive and mutually beneficial. The two sides agreed to maintain regular contacts.

The Prime Minister also witnessed signing of a MoU between Russia and Pakistan, which signifies the shared understanding and desire of the two countries to further strengthen mutually advantageous cooperation in all areas of shared interest, especially trade, investment, energy, IT, agriculture, science & technology and education.

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