Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov of Russia will visit Pakistan from 6 to 7 April. During this time he will talk with his Pakistani counterpart Shah Mahmood Qureshi and discuss Afghan peace process, counter-terrorism cooperation and other bilateral issues. Lavrov is also scheduled to visit India before the Pakistan tour. The Russian Foreign Minister will visit New Delhi on 4-5 April.
The Russian Foreign Ministry announced a two-day visit on Thursday. The ministry tweeted from its official Twitter account, that the foreign minister will discuss bilateral relations, including economic cooperation and counter-terrorism cooperation. Lavrov will visit India on April 5 and 6, before traveling to Pakistan. Here he will prepare the ground for the annual India-Russia summit with Foreign Minister S Jaishankar. Will also discuss bilateral cooperation.
Afghan peace process will be the main focus of discussion
Sources in Pakistan’s Foreign Office said that Loverov’s dialogue with Qureshi will be the focus of the peace process in Afghanistan and the improvement of cooperation between Pakistan and Russia in various fields. He said that Lovrov will arrive in Islamabad with Russian Foreign Envoy Jamir Kabolov in Afghanistan. Kaboluva had earlier visited Pakistan in February and held talks on various issues.
Islamabad and Moscow relations have improved
This rare visit by the Russian Foreign Minister is taking place at a time when relations between Islamabad and Moscow have seen improvement in recent years. Russia recently hosted a conference consisting of representatives of the government of Pakistan, the US, China and Afghanistan and Taliban as part of efforts to facilitate the peace process. Russia considers Pakistan important for the peace process in Afghanistan.
Loverov will visit India on 4-5 April
At the same time, a spokeswoman for the Russian Foreign Ministry said in the press briefing, that on 4-5 April, Foreign Minister Sergey Lovrov will go on an official visit to India. During this visit, he will talk to his Indian counterpart (S. Jaishankar). During the visit, the two ministers will discuss bilateral relations and preparations for the imminent meeting of the Heads of Governments of the two countries. Loverov’s visit to India is happening shortly when the Foreign Secretary of India visited Russia.