2024-07-04 04:18:26
Astana: Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday held a meeting with Pakistani PM Shahbaz Sharif in Astana on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit. During this, he offered to increase energy supplies including crude oil to Pakistan. However, the question arises whether Pakistan is able to import, as its foreign exchange reserves are continuously declining. Putin and Shahbaz are in Kazakhstan to attend the summit and this is their second meeting. Earlier, the two leaders met in Samarkand during the SCO Summit in 2022. Pakistan always wants its foreign policy to be diverse like India. But whenever it starts increasing ties with Russia, it has to face pressure from the West. An agreement was signed between the two countries in June last year. Under this, Pakistan received a consignment of Russian crude oil. The Pakistani PM then told his people that just as India gets crude oil at a discount rate, on the same basis, they will also get Russian crude oil. However, Pakistan did not get any crude oil after the first shipment. This is because later it became clear that Russia had not given any kind of discount to Pakistan.
Will there be trade between Russia and Pakistan?
On Wednesday, Putin discussed the possibility of even more energy supplies to Pakistan with Shahbaz Sharif. Putin told Shahbaz, “I would like to especially emphasize two key areas. Cooperation in the energy and agro-industrial sectors. We have started supplying energy resources to Pakistan and we are ready to further increase this supply.” Putin said, “As per your request, Russia is supporting Pakistan’s food security by increasing the supply of grain to the Pakistani market.” However, even if Russia supplies energy to Pakistan, it will be difficult for Pakistan to make payments. The real reason for this is not the US sanctions but Pakistan’s poverty.
Will Pakistan be able to make the payment?
In fact, Pakistan’s foreign exchange reserves are close to $ 8.9 billion. A large amount of this money is taken from other countries, which cannot be used. At the same time, most of Pakistan’s foreign exchange reserves are decreasing due to repayment of loans. This is the reason why Shahbaz has offered barter for $ 1 billion trade with Russia during this time. In barter, goods are given in exchange for goods. Shahbaz said, ‘During the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s, we had bilateral trade under barter. We used to import a lot of machinery and goods from the Soviet Union and we used to export textiles and leather goods to your country. This used to happen under barter.’ He further said, ‘I think today is the time to trade under barter once again to deal with financial and banking issues. This will be very beneficial for Pakistan.’ However, experts believe that Russia is not going to be ready for this.