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Karachi, May 29 (PTI) — Pakistan and Russia have launched direct flight services for the first time to strengthen trade, economic and energy ties between the two countries.
A ship carrying 36,000 tons of cargo left the port of Karachi for St. Petersburg after an inauguration ceremony in Karachi on Saturday. A tanker carrying Russian crude is expected to arrive in Karachi from St. Petersburg later this week.
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Oil and Energy Minister of State Musadiq Malik told the media that this is the first direct air route between Pakistan and Russia and it will lead to more bilateral trade and economic ties.
“We want to make it clear that Pakistan is not in anyone’s camp. We try to trade with the US, we are told we are in the US camp. We do business with China, we are told we are allied with China. In fact, we are just doing Something that is in Pakistan’s interest,” Malik said.
“We just want cheap oil from Russia for our energy needs,” he said.
The container ship from Pakistan will arrive in St. Petersburg in 18 days.
Andrei Viktorovich, Russia’s consul general in Karachi, said his country wanted to strengthen trade ties with Pakistan.
Qazi Muhammad Khalil, former ambassador to Moscow, said there is a lot of room for Pakistan to export rice, fruits, vegetables, sporting goods and textiles to Russia and direct air routes between the two countries will help strengthen trade and business ties between the two countries.
Pakistan-Russia relations have moved away from intense Cold War hostilities in recent years.
Pakistan, currently grappling with high foreign debt and a weak currency, is desperate to buy cheap crude from Russia at a discount.
The cash-strapped country has struggled to revive a derailed $6.5 billion IMF bailout package approved by the IMF in 2019.
(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from a Syndicated News feed, the body of content may not have been modified or edited by LatestLY staff)
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