Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif will travel to Beijing in November while he has also accepted an invitation from Russian President Vladimir Putin for a visit to Moscow in a telling move that contradicts claims that Pakistan may maintain a distance from the United States adversaries following the ouster of former prime minister Imran Khan.
\nThe development comes at a time when there are efforts underway to reset the troubled relationship between Pakistan and the US. A senior adviser of the US Secretary of State recently visited Islamabad while the Biden administration approved a $450 million sale of F-16 equipment in a sign that Washington wants to maintain a working relationship with Islamabad.
\nIn the middle of all this, Shehbaz\u2019s meetings with President Xi and President Putin were significant and showed Pakistan was trying to maintain a delicate balance in its ties with big powers.
\nThe transcript released by Putin\u2019s office after meeting Shehbaz conveyed Russian eagerness to deepen ties with Pakistan. At the same time Chinese President Xi Jinping, in a maiden meeting with Shehbaz Sharif, termed the Pakistani prime minister as \u201ca person of pragmatism and efficiency\u201d.
\nShehbaz also heaped praise on Putin, calling Russia a \u201csuperpower\u201d and its president a \u201cman of words\u201d.
\nFor his part, the Russian president began his meeting with Shehbaz by recalling his working relationship with his elder brother Nawaz Sharif when he was the country\u2019s premiere.
\nObservers believe that Shehbaz\u2019s flurry of meetings with Russian and Chinese presidents indicated that Pakistan\u2019s policy seeking diversification in its foreign policy options remains intact.
\nWhile Pakistan has a long-standing relationship with China, the process of rapprochement with Russia began way before Imran became the prime minister.
\nIt was a consensus decision by the country\u2019s parliament and other stakeholders in 2011 to reach out to Russia after Islamabad\u2019s relationship hit the lowest ebb because of a series of debacles.
\nSince then successive governments including PPP and PML-N had pursued the policy of normalising ties with Russia. In 2015, the two sides signed an agreement under which Russia would lay a gas pipeline from Karachi to Punjab to supply LNG.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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