Pakistan and Russia have inaugurated direct shipping for the first time service in a bid to strengthen trade, economic and energy ties between the two countries.

Following an inauguration ceremony in Karachi on Saturday, a ship carrying 36,000 tonnes of commodities departed the Karachi port for St Petersburg. A tanker carrying Russian crude oil is slated to arrive in Karachi later this week from St Petersburg.

Musaddik Malik, Minister of State for Petroleum and Energy, informed the media that this is the first direct shipping route between Pakistan and Russia and it will lead to increase bilateral trade and economic ties.

Minister said, “We want to make it clear Pakistan is not in anyone’s camp. We try to do trade with the USA, we are told we are in the USA camp. We do business with China, we are told we have aligned with China. The truth is we are only doing what is in the interest of Pakistan”.

“We are only trying to get cheap oil for our energy needs from Russia”, Malik added.

Pakistan container ship will arrive in St Petersburg in 18 days.

Andrey Viktorovich, the Russian Consul General in Karachi stated that his country wishes to strengthen trade ties with Pakistan.

Former ambassador to Moscow Qazi Muhammad Khalil stated that there was a lot of potential for Pakistan to export rice, fruits, vegetables, sports items, and textiles to Russia and that a direct shipping line between the two nations will assist strengthen trade and business ties between the two countries.

In recent years, Pakistan’s relations with Russia have progressed beyond the intense Cold War conflicts.

Pakistan, which is dealing with huge external debt and a weak domestic currency, is yearning for low-cost petroleum from Russia.

The cash-strapped government has been working hard to resurrect the USD 6.5 billion stalled IMF bailout package granted by the Washington-based global lender approved in 2019.

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