ISLAMABAD: Defense Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif has said that Pakistan seeks a long-term partnership with Russia in the fields of defense, trade and energy, state broadcaster Radio Pakistan reported on Tuesday amid Islamabad’s push for foreign investment. 

Pakistan and Russia have held regular business and trade interactions over the past couple of years in an effort to boost ties and enhance regional cooperation. The two countries, once bitter Cold War rivals, have recently warmed up to each other as Pakistan seeks to enhance bilateral trade with landlocked Central Asian countries through Russia. 

The two countries last week held an inaugural trade and investment forum in Moscow last week where Pakistan’s privatization minister led a delegation of over 70 businesspersons to discuss bilateral trade and business cooperation with Russian officials and business community. 

Russia’s Ambassador to Pakistan Albert P. Khorev called on Asif in Islamabad to discuss matters related to defense and economic cooperation, Radio Pakistan said. 

“He said Pakistan intends to forge a long-term multidimensional partnership with Russia, especially in the fields of defense, trade, energy and people-to-people contacts,” the state broadcaster said. 

Asif reiterated Pakistan’s commitment to regional peace and security while the Russian envoy assured the minister of his country’s commitment to collaborate with Pakistan in matters of mutual interest, Radio Pakistan added. 

Apart from economic and defense cooperation, Pakistan has also turned to Russia for cheaper sources of fuel. Islamabad’s ties with Russia saw significant improvement last year after Pakistan started purchasing Russian crude oil at a discount rate. The development came after geopolitical tensions almost doubled fuel prices in Pakistan last year. 

Pakistan also received its first shipment of liquified petroleum gas from Russia in September 2023, marking Islamabad’s second major Russian energy purchase. Meanwhile last month, Russia’s Deputy Prime Minister Alexei Overchuk arrived in Islamabad on a brief visit, seeking to expand trade and investment ties with Pakistan.

Pakistan has increasingly sought cooperation in terms of trade and investment with regional countries and financial institutions such as the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in recent months to recover from a macroeconomic crisis that has drained its resources.

The South Asian country narrowly avoided a sovereign default last year when it secured a last-gasp $3 billion financial assistance package from the IMF. Pakistan’s economic crisis has seen its inflation reach double-digit figures, foreign exchange reserves plummet to historic lows and its currency weaken significantly against the US dollar over the past two years. 

KARACHI: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Monday assured Chinese Ambassador Jiang Zaidong of personally overseeing investigation into a militant attack on a Chinese convoy in Pakistan’s southern port city of Karachi, promising that those responsible would be brought to justice.
Two Chinese nationals among three people were killed and 10 others injured in the attack near the Karachi airport late on Sunday night, Pakistani officials and the Chinese embassy said. The Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) separatist group claimed responsibility for the attack, saying that Chinese nationals were targeted by a vehicle-borne improvised explosive device.
China is a major ally and investor in Pakistan, having pledged over $65 billion in road, infrastructure and development projects in Pakistan under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), a part of Beijing’s Belt and Road Initiative, that aims to connect China to the Arabian Sea and help Islamabad expand and modernize its economy.
PM Sharif on Monday visited the Chinese embassy in Islamabad and held a meeting with Ambassador Jiang to extend his condolences over the death of the two Chinese nationals, according to the Pakistan PM’s office.
“I will personally oversee the investigation into this incident,” Sharif said, expressing sorrow over the loss of Chinese lives in the attack. “After the identification of those responsible for the incident, they will be brought to justice.”
He said his government had fully mobilized resources to identify those behind this “act of terrorism,” adding that the protection of Chinese nationals was a “top priority” of Pakistan.
Sharif also assured the Chinese envoy of further strengthening security arrangements for Chinese nationals working in Pakistan.
The Chinese ambassador expressed confidence in the Pakistani government’s “effective investigation, prompt identification of the responsible terrorists, and their swift punishment,” according to a statement issued by Sharif’s office.
“We hope that those responsible for the incident will receive appropriate punishment as soon as possible,” Ambassador Jiang was quoted as saying.
The attack targeted a convoy of the Port Qasim Electric Power Company at around 11:00pm on Sunday night, according to the Chinese embassy. Two Chinese nationals were killed and one was injured.
The embassy said the Chinese side was working with Pakistani authorities in the aftermath.
“The Chinese Embassy and Consulates General in Pakistan remind Chinese citizens, enterprises and projects in Pakistan to be vigilant, pay close attention to the security situation, strengthen security measures, and make every effort to take safety precautions,” it said in a statement.
On Monday, the Pakistani foreign office condemned the attack and said the country’s security and law enforcement agencies would make every effort to arrest the perpetrators and their facilitators.
“This barbaric act will not go unpunished,” it said.
Separately, the BLA named the militant who carried out the attack as Shah Fahad Badini, a member of its Majeed Brigade who belonged to the Kili Badini area of the Nushki district in Pakistan’s restive Balochistan province.
The 28-year-old had joined the group in 2019 and had completed his degree in Business Administration at the Lasbela University, it added.
Sunday’s attack is the latest by the BLA, the most prominent of a number of separatist groups fighting for independence for Pakistan’s gas-and-mineral-rich Balochistan province, where a low-lying insurgency has been ongoing for the past two decades. Baloch militants blame the Pakistani state for exploiting the province’s resources, a charge denied by state authorities.
The BLA also accuses Beijing of helping Islamabad exploit the province and has attacked Chinese interests and projects in the past, in particular the strategic port of Gwadar on the Arabian Sea. It has previously killed Chinese citizens working in the region and attacked Beijing’s consulate in Karachi.
In March this year, a suicide bombing killed five Chinese engineers and a Pakistani driver in northwestern Pakistan as they headed to the Dasu Dam, the biggest hydropower project in the country. In 2022, three Chinese educators and their Pakistani driver were killed when an explosion ripped through a van at the University of Karachi.
Sunday’s attack came after a series of coordinated attacks, most claimed by the BLA, that killed more than 50 people in Balochistan in August. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and other officials said at the time the attacks had sought to harm Chinese-funded investment and development projects.