KARACHI, Oct 31 (Focus Pakistan) - The Shehbaz Sharif Moscow visit is back on the diplomatic calendar, with the prime minister planning to travel to Russia in the first week of December alongside a large Pakistani business delegation, according to sources familiar with the arrangements.
Sharif took stock of the arrangements at a meeting he chaired. This marks his second shot at Moscow this year. Islamabad had pencilled in a March 2–5 trip, then the Prime Minister’s Office called it off on March 1, pointing to regional and domestic developments.
Trade drove the March plans too. Back then, Faisal Niaz Tirmizi, Pakistan’s man in Moscow, said Islamabad hoped to come home from the trip with a preferential trade agreement that would lift trade between the two countries.
Nobody in Islamabad or Moscow has yet said if that deal is still on the agenda.
An open invitation from Putin
Sharif also owes Vladimir Putin a visit. When the two met in Beijing, Sharif told the Russian president that Pakistan was very keen to deepen ties in trade, energy and other key sectors. Putin asked him to come to Moscow. Sharif thanked him and said he would be glad to.
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None of this comes out of nowhere. Mikhail Mishustin, Russia’s prime minister, came to Islamabad as Sharif’s guest in October 2024. The two men agreed to keep talking and to work together on trade, industry, energy, connectivity, science, technology and education.
Two months on, Energy Minister Awais Leghari carried that momentum to Moscow. He led Pakistan’s side at the ninth Inter-Governmental Commission meeting, where the two countries signed eight agreements on health, education and trade.
What the December trip will deliver remains an open question. The sources did not say which companies or sectors the business delegation will represent, and they gave no exact dates.
