ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan is scheduled to become the first Pakistani head of government in over two decades to visit Russia as he prepares to undertake an official visit to that country during the ongoing month, announced one of his senior cabinet members on Monday.
The two countries developed a bitter rivalry during the Cold War days after the Soviets invaded Afghanistan. Pakistan supported the United States during that period and assisted the Afghan resistance factions with their guerrilla warfare.
The two sides have tried to broaden and deepen their relations in recent years, with Russia lifting a longstanding arms embargo in 2014 which it had imposed on Pakistan decades ago.
It may be recalled that Nawaz Sharif was the last Pakistani prime minister who went to Moscow in 1999.
“Our relations with Russia have gradually improved,” Pakistan’s foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi said in a statement. “Now Russian President Vladimir Putin has invited Prime Minister Imran Khan to visit Russia and PM Khan will go to Moscow this month.”
“I think our relations with Russia are undergoing a pleasant change,” he added.
Pakistan’s increased diplomatic engagements with Russia are said to be part of its quest to diversify its foreign policy.
Last year, the two countries formally signed an amended inter-governmental agreement for a flagship pipeline project due to be carried out by Russia which would join Pakistan’s Punjab province with its Karachi port city.
The project was earlier known as the North-South Pipeline, though it is now called the Pakistan Stream Gas Pipeline Project which will deliver imported liquefied natural gas (LNG) from Pakistan’s coastal regions to industrial areas in Punjab.
The initiative has remained on hold since 2015 due to disagreements over fees and United States sanctions against the Russian state conglomerate Rostec.
In September 2021, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov visited Pakistan and held wide-ranging talks covering bilateral relations and regional and global issues.
“The Foreign Minister [Shah Mahmood Qureshi in a meeting with his Russian counterpart in Islamabad] underlined that strengthening of relations with the Russian Federation was an important foreign policy priority for Pakistan,” a statement circulated by the Pakistani foreign office said after Lavrov’s visit.
Imran Khan to become first Pakistani PM to visit Russia in over two decades
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Imran Khan to become first Pakistani PM to visit Russia in over two decades
- Pakistan’s foreign minister says the prime minister will visit the Russian Federation during the ongoing month
- Former Cold War rivals, Pakistan and Russia have tried to broaden and deepen their relations in recent years
EU, Pakistan sign €60 million loan agreement for clean drinking water in Karachi
- Project will finance rehabilitation, construction of water treatment facilities in Karachi city, says European Investment Bank
- As per a report in 2023, 90 percent of water samples collected from various places in city was deemed unfit for drinking
ISLAMABAD: The European Investment Bank (EIB) and Pakistan’s government on Wednesday signed a €60 million loan agreement, the first between the two sides in a decade, to support the delivery of clean drinking water in Karachi, the EU said in a statement.
The Karachi Water Infrastructure Framework, approved in August this year by the EIB, will finance the rehabilitation and construction of water treatment facilities in Pakistan’s most populous city of Karachi to increase safe water supply and improve water security.
The agreement was signed between the two sides at the sidelines of the 15th Pak-EU Joint Commission in Brussels, state broadcaster Radio Pakistan reported.
“Today, the @EIB signed its first loan agreement with Pakistan in a decade: a €60 million loan supporting the delivery of clean drinking water for #Karachi,” the EU said on social media platform X.
Radio Pakistan said the agreement reflects Pakistan’s commitment to modernize essential urban services and promote climate-resilient infrastructure.
“The declaration demonstrates the continued momentum in Pakistan-EU cooperation and highlights shared priorities in sustainable development, public service delivery, and climate and environmental resilience,” it said.
Karachi has a chronic clean drinking water problem. As per a Karachi Water and Sewerage Corporation (KWSC) study conducted in 2023, 90 percent of water from samples collected from various places in the city was deemed unsafe for drinking purposes, contaminated with E. coli, coliform bacteria, and other harmful pathogens.
The problem has forced most residents of the city to get their water through drilled motor-operated wells (known as ‘bores’), even as groundwater in the coastal city tends to be salty and unfit for human consumption.
Other options for residents include either buying unfiltered water from private water tanker operators, who fill up at a network of legal and illegal water hydrants across the city, or buying it from reverse osmosis plants that they visit to fill up bottles or have delivered to their homes.
The EU provides Pakistan about €100 million annually in grants for development and cooperation. This includes efforts to achieve green inclusive growth, increase education and employment skills, promote good governance, human rights, rule of law and ensure sustainable management of natural resources.
