Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexei Overchuk said on Thursday that Moscow would support Pakistan’s inclusion in BRICS.

“We would be supportive of it,” Overchuk, who is on a two-day visit to Islamabad, told a joint press conference with Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar in Islamabad, in response to a question about Pakistan’s request to become part of the grouping of the world’s leading emerging market economies.

BRICS is named after Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. The bloc last year invited Saudi Arabia, Iran, Ethiopia, Egypt, Argentina and the United Arab Emirates to become members, in a move aimed at accelerating its push to reshuffle a world order it sees as outdated.

A high-level delegation is also accompanying the Russian Deputy PM.

This is the highest-level visit from an official of the Russian Federation in several years, and a follow-up of discussions between Prime Minister Shehbaz and Russian President Vladimir Putin on the sidelines of the SCO Summit in Astana (Kazakhstan) on July 3, 2024.

Overchuk is scheduled to hold meetings with President Asif Ali Zardari, PM Shehbaz Sharif, and Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar, the Foreign Office had said in a statement earlier.

Earlier, citing sources, Business Recorder had reported that Pakistan and Russia are all set to ink a number of pacts on government-to-government (G2G) with regards to trade, energy, finance, and industry during the visit Overchuk’s visit.

The three-pronged strategy for Pakistan-Russia energy cooperation outlined last year is as follows:

(i) procurement of crude oil;

(ii) procurement of LNG; and

(iii) development of gas infrastructure in Pakistan.