ASTANA: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Wednesday met with Russian President Vladimir Putin wherein he emphasised the expansion of bilateral cooperation between Pakistan and Russia across all areas of mutual benefit including trade, energy, defence and security.

In the meeting held on the sidelines of Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Council of Head of States meeting, the prime minister reaffirmed Pakistan’s commitment to work with Russia to further expand and strengthen the growing multi-dimensional cooperation between the two countries.

During the “warm and cordial” meeting, the two leaders had a wide ranging exchange of views covering bilateral relations with a special focus on trade and economic relations, energy as well as important regional and global issues, a PM Office press release said.

The prime minister, in his opening remarks at the outset of the meeting, said the bilateral trade stood at around $1 billion which could be expanded by overcoming the financial and banking matters.

Prime Minister Shehbaz, who arrived here to attend the twin Summit of Shanghai Cooperation Organization Council of Heads of State (CHS) and SCO Plus summits, expressed his pleasure to meet the Russian leader and recalled their earlier interaction in Samarkand.

He congratulated President Putin on his re-election and expressed the hope that the Russian Federation would achieve further progress under his leadership.

The prime minister highlighted the importance Pakistan attached to its relations with Russia and expressed satisfaction at the steady growth of those relations, which were characterized by mutual trust and understanding. He said that the bilateral relations were on a positive trajectory since last several years.

He expressed his readiness to work closely with the Russian president to further cement bilateral ties and viewed that both the countries had lot to do by benefiting from President Putin’s experience and leadership. He thanked the Russian government for sending an oil shipment to Pakistan in the recent past and expressed the desire to move further in this regard.

He said that Pakistan-Russian ties were not driven or impacted by any geopolitical situation as both the countries had very old business relations. He recalled the barter trade between two countries during the decades of 50s to 70s when Pakistan used to import machinery from Russia and export leather and other commodities to Russia.

According to the statement, both sides agreed to convene the next meeting of the Pakistan-Russia intergovernmental Cooperation at Moscow at an early date.