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
IMF board to approve Pakistan reviews today ‘if all goes well,’ say officials
- IMF’s executive board is scheduled to meet today to discuss the disbursement of $1.2 billion
- Economists say the money will boost Pakistan’s forex reserves, send positive signals to investors
KARACHI: The International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) executive board is scheduled to meet today, Monday, to approve the release of about $1.2 billion for Pakistan under the lender’s two loan facilities, said IMF officials who requested not to be named.
The IMF officials confirmed the executive board was going to decide on the Fund’s second review under the $7 billion Extended Fund Facility (EFF) and first review under the $1.4 billion Resilience and Sustainability Facility (RSF), a financing tool that provides long-term, low-cost loans to help countries address climate risks.
“The board meeting will be taking place as planned,” an IMF official told Arab News.
“The board is on today yes as per the calendar,” said another.
A well-placed official at Pakistan’s finance ministry also confirmed the board meeting was scheduled today to discuss the next tranche for Pakistan.
The IMF executive board’s meeting comes nearly two months after a staff-level agreement (SLA) was signed between the two sides in October.
Procedurally, the SLAs are subject to approval by the executive board, though it is largely viewed as a formality.
“If all goes well, the reviews should pass,” said the second IMF official.
On approval, Pakistan will have access to about $1 billion under the EFF and about $200 million under the RSF, the IMF said in a statement in October after the SLA.
The fresh transfer will bring total disbursements under the two arrangements to about $3.3 billion, it added.
Experts see smooth sailing for Pakistan in terms of the passing of the two reviews, saying the IMF disbursements will help the cash-strapped nation to strengthen its balance of payments position.
Samiullah Tariq, group head of research at Pakistan Kuwait Investment Company Limited, said the IMF board’s approval will show that Pakistan’s economy is on the right path.
“It obviously will help strengthen [the country’s] external sector, the balance of payments,” he told Arab News.
Until recently, Pakistan grappled with a macroeconomic crisis that drained its financial resources and triggered a balance of payments crisis.
Pakistan has reported financial gains since 2022, recording current account surpluses and taming inflation that touched unprecedented levels in mid-2023.
Economists also viewed the IMF’s bailout packages as crucial for cash-strapped Pakistan, which has relied heavily on financing from bilateral partners such as Saudi Arabia, China and the United Arab Emirates, as well as multilateral lenders.
Saudi Arabia, through the Saudi Fund for Development, last week extended the term of its $3 billion deposit for another year to help Pakistan boost its foreign exchange reserves, which stood at $14.5 billion as of November 28, according to State Bank of Pakistan statements.
“In our view this [IMF tranche] will be approved,” said Shankar Talreja, head of research at Karachi-based brokerage Topline Securities Limited.
“This will help strengthen reserves and will eventually help a rating upgrade going forward,” he said.
The IMF board’s nod, Talreja said, would also send a signal to the international and local investors regarding the continuation of the reform agenda by Pakistan’s government.
