Moscow to support Islamabad’s inclusion in BRICS: Russian deputy PM

ISLAMABAD: Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexei Overchuk said on Thursday Moscow would support Pakistan’s inclusion in BRICS, Reuters reported on Wednesday.

“We would be supportive of it,” Overchuk, who is on a two-day visit to Islamabad, told a joint press conference with Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar here, in response to a question about Pakistan’s request to become a part of the grouping of the world’s leading emerging market economies. BRICS is named after Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa.

Overchuk said that Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin would be attending the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) heads of government meeting in Islamabad next month, which he said would be important. Also, the two sides signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on bilateral cooperation in the domain of economy and trade at a ceremony, held at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and witnessed by Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar and visiting Deputy PM Alexei Overchuk.

Pakistan took the opportunity to also announce its accession to the MoU on Creation and Development of International Transport Corridor Belarus-Russia-Kazakhstan-Uzbekistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan. “The MoU between Pakistan Mercantile Exchange (PMEX) and Saint Petersburg International Mercantile Exchange (SPIMEX) was signed by Acting Managing Director PMEX Farhan Tahir from the Pakistan side and by President SPIMEX Igor Artemyev from the Russian side,” said the Foreign Office.

Earlier, the two sides held delegation-level talks while emphasizing that they would transform their bilateral relations into a solid, mutually beneficial economic partnership, with Pakistan expressing its desire to intensify bilateral, political, economic and defence dialogue with the Russian Federation.

Commenting on the talks, the FO said, “The two sides discussed the entire spectrum of bilateral cooperation and noted the positive momentum in Pakistan-Russia relations over the last two decades. They agreed to pursue robust dialogue and cooperation in areas of trade, industry, energy, connectivity, science, technology and education”.

The two sides also agreed to continue coordination on multilateral fora, including at the United Nations and the Shanghai Cooperation.

Meanwhile, Alexey Overchuk paid a courtesy call on Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Asim Munir at the General Headquarters (GHQ) on Wednesday. During their meeting, they engaged in productive discussions on matters of mutual interest, regional security dynamics and bilateral cooperation across various sectors.

The COAS reiterated Pakistan’s commitment to fostering traditional defence ties with Russia. Both sides reaffirmed their resolve to strengthen security and defence cooperation in multiple domains. The visiting dignitary praised the Pakistan armed forces’ pivotal role in combating terrorism and their tireless efforts to promote peace and stability in the region.

Separately, in an exclusive interview with The News, Russian Deputy PM Alexey Overchuk said on Wednesday Pakistan was a long-time partner of Russia, and their relations have been on steady rise in the recent years. He said Pakistan is an important country in the South Asian region, which makes it part of the Global South.

Moscow and Islamabad, Overchuk said, were maintaining a close dialogue. “We have similar views on many items of the international agenda. This opens opportunities for a wide scope of collaboration. There is good potential for business cooperation as well as moving forward with cultural and humanitarian agenda.”

“Therefore, the purpose of my visit is to discuss our current state of affairs and to consider ways of facilitating trade as well as taking advantage of opportunities for improving ties between our countries in bilateral and multilateral formats.”

Regarding bilateral trade, Overchuk said “our trade is facilitated by the increased share of transactions settled in national currencies and currencies of friendly nations which in the first six months of 2024 exceeded 80 per cent. In 2022 it only accounted for less than 20pc of foreign trade between our countries. This is a good indication of intentions to take our relationships further.”

Another important area, he said, where our governments could do better is facilitating direct contacts between people and communities. Russia’s regions are interested in developing direct ties with people, communities, cities and regions in Pakistan. “Developing our social and cultural ties also contributes to this objective. We see Pakistan’s interest in Russian education and are gradually increasing the number of state-funded internship for Pakistani students in Russian universities,” he added.

Overchuk said Russian language courses were now offered in several Pakistani cities. “Language teachers from Russia are starting to educate students in Pakistan. This will help Pakistani students in receiving education in Russia, which will provide our nations with better environment for strengthening economic, humanitarian and cultural ties.”

The Russian deputy premier said his country had advanced knowledge and technologies in traditional and clean energy, transportation, agriculture, medicine and many other sectors of economy. “We would be prepared to share our knowledge. One of the purposes of this visit is to improve our understanding of where our knowledge and experience can be useful for Pakistan, establish contacts and then facilitate dialogue between our countries and people,” he explained. He believed that a free trade agreement between the EAEU and Pakistan might create a better foundation for advancing trade and economic relations further. “We would like to explore this issue together and arrive to a solution that will be mutually beneficial for Pakistan and the five nations of EAEU.”

Separately, Russian Federation Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Aleksei Gruzdev met Federal Minister for Industries, Production, and National Food Security Rana Tanveer Hussain here on Wednesday and the two sides discussed a proposal to establish a new steel mill in Karachi with the Russian cooperation. Pakistan currently faces a 3.1 million-ton gap between domestic steel production and demand. Both nations have agreed to form working groups to advance the project.

During the meeting with the Russian delegation, Tanveer Hussain said despite Pakistan’s considerable iron ore reserves, estimated at 1.887 billion tons, the country is forced to import around $2.7 billion worth of iron and steel annually to meet demand. “Pakistan’s per capita steel consumption remains below the levels of many developing countries, indicating significant growth potential in the medium to long term,” he said. He also noted that the country’s steel industry is fragmented, comprising 600 small units that rely on outdated technology.

The proposed steel mill will be strategically located near Port Qasim, reducing transportation costs for raw materials.