Putin visit to Pakistan this year: report

Islamabad Pakistan January 24 ANI Moscow and Islamabad are in talks to finalize the plan for Russian President Vladimir Putin's visit to Pakistan this year, a media report said on Sunday.

The Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan has already extended a formal invitation to Putin, according to the Express Tribune newspaper, Imran Khan said in his report that Imran Khan reiterated the invitation to him during his telephonic conversation this month.

The Pakistani newspaper said Putin's visit was being discussed for the last two years but could not materialize because of several reasons, including the COVID-19 pandemic.

Moscow wants big-ticket projects or other initiatives that the Russian president would announce when he starts the trip to Pakistan, according to the report.

A year ago, Pakistan and Russia had signed an agreement for the construction of a 1,100 km gas pipeline from Port Qasim in Karachi to Lahore.

The Pakistan media report said that the signing of the Pakistan Steam Gas Pipeline in July last year has boosted the prospects of Putin's visit to Pakistan.

Pakistan wants Russian companies to lay the pipeline from Karachi to Kasur, as President Putin inaugurates the more than 2 billion gas pipeline project.

According to the newspaper, this project is a flagship project that Moscow and Islamabad intend to undertake and enter into a new era of bilateral relations. The Tribune report said that the project had economic but strategic significance for Pakistan.