Pakistan to import wheat and gas from Russia: Imran Khan after meeting Putin

 Pakistan is what import and gas from Russia: Imran Khan after meeting Putin

Pakistan's Prime Minister Imran Khan announced on Monday (February 26th) that his country would import about two million tonnes of wheat from Russia and buy natural gas. He said the imports would be made under a bilateral agreement signed between the two sides during an official visit to Moscow last week.

Khan met with President Vladimir Putin at the Kremlin on Thursday during a two-day visit, just hours after Russian forces invaded Ukraine and as the world was planning to dismantle Russia.

On Monday, Pakistan's prime minister said in a televised address to the nation in response to criticism and criticism of his visit that he had to do so in Pakistan's economic interest.

"We went to Russia because we had to import 2 million tonnes of wheat from there. Second, we have signed agreements with them to import natural gas. "Because Pakistan's own gas reserves are declining," Khan said.

"Insha'Allah (God's will), time will tell if we have had a great discussion," Khan said, referring to his three-hour meeting with Pakistani leader Putin. He did not elaborate.

Critics, however, have expressed skepticism about Moscow-Islamabad economic co-operation in the wake of tough international sanctions imposed on Russia following its invasion of Ukraine.

On Thursday, in the Kremlin, Putin gave Khan a warm welcome and a handshake in front of the camera. Pakistani officials said the two leaders sat side by side and discussed a wide range of bilateral, regional and international issues.

"The prime minister has expressed regret over the recent situation between Russia and Ukraine and said that Pakistan hoped that diplomacy would avert a military confrontation," Khan was quoted as saying in a statement issued after the meeting.

Pakistani officials and Khan himself have repeatedly said that the visit to Moscow was planned long before the Ukraine crisis began and was aimed solely at reviewing bilateral trade relations, including energy co-operation.

According to analysts, Pakistan's cool relations with the United States have pushed the South Asian country closer to its larger neighbors China and Russia in recent years.

After the delegation returned to Pakistan, Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi, who accompanied Khan on his visit, said Washington had been in touch with Islamabad before his visit to Moscow.

"[Our officials] have clarified their position and we have explained to them the purpose of our visit and we have proceeded accordingly," Qureshi told reporters when asked if the United States was opposed to the visit. "After the tour, I'm sure we did the right thing."

Asked on the eve of Khan's visit to Russia, a State Department spokesman said Washington believed that Pakistan, like "every responsible" country, would object to Putin's move.

But Pakistani leaders have refrained from criticizing Russia's military intervention in Ukraine, stressing the need to resolve the crisis through negotiations.

Islamabad has also forged close economic and military ties with Ukraine in recent years. Besides, Pakistan is one of the major importers of Ukrainian wheat.

Islamabad's already uneasy relationship with Washington has been further aggravated by Pakistan's recent support for the Islamist Taliban in Afghanistan. Relations between India and the United States have strengthened in recent years due to concerns over China's growing influence in the region.

Islamabad's main enemy, India, had close ties with Russia during the Cold War, as Moscow was one of New Delhi's main arms exporters.

But in recent years, Moscow has re-established relations with Islamabad. The two countries hold regular joint military exercises and Russia is also working to increase energy cooperation with Pakistan to overcome the deficit.

In his speech on Monday, Khan reiterated Pakistan's decision to side with the United States in the war on terror in Afghanistan as a result of the "wrong foreign policy" of its predecessors.

"I have been saying from day one that we should not have taken part in the [US-led war]," he said, adding that retaliatory attacks by Islamists had killed 70,000 Pakistanis and caused billions of dollars in economic losses.

Khan also announced cuts in fuel and electricity prices to cope with rising global oil prices due to the Russia-Ukraine conflict.

He has promised to postpone the new prices until next June's budget. Critics say the move may have been prompted by opposition protests due to rising inflation. Officials have blamed the government's drastic economic reforms for the outbreak, in line with a coronavirus outbreak and a ছয় 6 billion stimulus package from the International Monetary Fund.