A section of media has reported
that Russian President Putin is likely to visit Pakistan in next two months. The
news coincided with the arrival of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif in Washington on
an official US visit. Earlier, a week before his departure, Putin’s Russian
cabinet minister was in Islamabad, who signed the landmark LNG pipeline project
agreement with Pakistan. A very significant development indeed! But the news of
President Putin’s likely visit is certainly of greater importance. Welcome Mr
President, you will find Pakistan and the people of Pakistan most hospitable and
welcoming. We have good relationship with the US, but we do not want a
relationship at the cost of cordial and friendly relations with Russia or any
other nation. Pakistan, thanks to new leadership in Islamabad, and particularly
Gen Raheel Sharif in Rawalpindi, has reframed its foreign policy. Ignoring
regional and geographical proximities and instead establishing relations with
thousands kilometers distant countries is not at all wisdom. With President
Putin’s visit, the new dawn will hopefully herald in the Asian continent leading
to stability, sovereignty, peaceful coexistence and prosperity.