ISLAMABAD: The United States has communicated to Pakistan its position regarding Russia’s further invasion of Ukraine, State Department spokesperson Ned Price said in a daily briefing on Wednesday.
The response comes at a time when Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan is in Moscow and scheduled to hold talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin today, Thursday.
Russian forces fired missiles at several Ukrainian cities and landed troops on its south coast on Thursday, officials and media said, after President Vladimir Putin authorized what he called a special military operation in the east.
Shortly after Putin spoke in a televised address on Russian state TV, explosions could be heard in the pre-dawn quiet of the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv. Gunfire rattled near the capital’s main airport, the Interfax news agency said.
“We’ve communicated to Pakistan our position regarding Russia’s further renewed invasion of Ukraine, and we have briefed them on our efforts to pursue diplomacy over war. We have a longstanding partnership and cooperation with Pakistan,” Price said.
“We believe it’s the responsibility of every responsible country around the world to voice concern, to voice objection to what Putin appears to have in mind for Ukraine.”
Price said that the US viewed its partnership with Pakistan as “critical” to US interests.
“And we certainly hope, when it comes to those shared interests – the aversion of a costly conflict, the aversion of a destabilizing conflict, that every country around the world would make that point clearly in unambiguous language in their engagements with the Russian Federation,” Price said.
Early this week, in an interview with Russian broadcaster RT, when the interviewer asked if, given Ukraine tensions, this was the right time to visit Russia, PM Khan said: “This doesn’t concern us, we have a bilateral relationship with Russia and we really want to strengthen it.”
Khan added that he hoped the Ukraine crisis would be “resolved peacefully.”
“I am not a believer in military conflicts, I believe civilized societies resolve their differences through dialogue,” Khan said.
US position on Russia’s further invasion communicated to Pakistan — State Department
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US position on Russia’s further invasion communicated to Pakistan — State Department
- Remarks come at a time when Pakistan PM is in Moscow to meet Russian President
- Russian forces fired missiles at several Ukrainian cities and landed troops on its south coast on Thursday
Pakistan advances $1.1 billion Thar coal-to-urea project to cut fertilizer imports
- Thar lignite to be converted into urea under Pakistan’s flagship Coal-to-Fertilizer plan
- Sindh administration says the initiative will create thousands of jobs, generate exports
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has moved forward with a $1.12 billion coal-to-fertilizer project in the desert region of Thar, an official statement said on Friday, as it aims to use domestic coal to produce urea and reduce reliance on imported fertilizer and costly natural gas.
The initiative is part of Pakistan’s broader push to tap the vast coal reserves in Tharparkar district in southern Sindh province. Thar is home to one of the world’s largest untapped lignite coal deposits, discovered in the 1990s, and has in recent years become central to the country’s coal-based power generation expansion.
“This project is of immense importance not only for Sindh but for the entire country,” Shah said, according to the statement. “It will reduce reliance on imported fertilizer, create jobs, generate exports and add value to our indigenous coal resources.”
Pakistan traditionally produces urea using natural gas as feedstock. However, declining domestic gas reserves and rising liquefied natural gas (LNG) imports have increased production costs and placed pressure on foreign exchange reserves.
Under the Coal-to-Fertilizer (C2F) initiative, Thar coal will be converted into synthesis gas through a process known as coal gasification. The hydrogen extracted from that gas will then be used to produce ammonia, which is combined with carbon dioxide to manufacture urea.
The project is designed to produce around 717,000 tons of urea annually, with roughly half intended for domestic use and the remainder for export. Officials estimate annual export revenues of up to $260 million.
Once operational, the statement said, the project could create more than 3,500 direct jobs and about 7,000 indirect jobs, while generating royalties for the provincial government through coal extraction.
