PM Imran Khan to visit Russia this month on Putin’s invitation

ISLAMABAD: Foreign Minister (FM) Shah Mahmood Qureshi on Monday confirmed that Prime Minister Imran Khan will undertake a two-day official visit to Moscow by the end of February 2022 after his “historic visit to China”.

Qureshi said in a statement that at the invitation of Russian President Vladimir Putin Prime Minister, Imran Khan will visit Russia later this month.

The diplomatic sources privy to the development told Bol News that the premier accompanied by a high-level delegation will travel to Moscow on February 23-24. However, a final schedule for the visit is being prepared, the sources added.

During his visit to Russia, the Prime Minister will discuss various important issues including bilateral relations, the North-South gas pipeline, diplomatic sources said.

The last time a Pakistani Prime Minister paid a bilateral visit to Moscow was in 1999. In April 1999, then Premier Nawaz Sharif visited Kremlin. Meanwhile, in 2011, former president Asif Ali Zardari paid his last bilateral visit to Russia as President.

Earlier on January 17, Prime Minister Imran Khan called Russian President Vladimir Putin to appreciate his stance on the limitations of freedom of speech.

Read more: PM Imran shares views with Chinese president on growing polarisation in world

PM Khan wrote on his Twitter, “Just spoke to President Putin primarily to express my appreciation for his emphatic statement that freedom of speech could not be a pretext to abuse our Prophet PBUH.”

“He is the first Western leader to show empathy & sensitivity to Muslim sentiment for their beloved Prophet PBUH,” he went on to mention.

Both officials also discussed ways to move forward on trade and other beneficial cooperation between Pakistan and Russia. “We invited each other to visit our countries,” PM Khan said in a connecting tweet.

At an annual news conference in December last year, Russian President Vladimir Putin had termed insulting Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) as a violation of freedom of religion and the holy feelings of people who profess Islam.

PM Khan had also said that Putin’s statement had reaffirmed his message that insulting the Holy Prophet (PBUH) was not ‘freedom of expression’.