OREANDA-NEWS. May 12, 2011. Dmitry Medvedev and Asif Ali Zardari discussed the prospects of the Russian-Pakistani relations and pressing international and regional issues, specifically focusing on coordination of efforts to counter international terrorism and on the situation in the Middle East.

Following the meeting, the presidents issued a joint statement.

The two leaders also witnessed the signing of the intergovernmental agreement on air traffic, Memorandum of Understanding between the Ministry of Energy of the Russian Federation and the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Resources of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, and Memorandum of Understanding between the Ministry of Agriculture of the Russian Federation and the Ministry of Food and Agriculture of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan.

President of Pakistan Asif Ali Zardari is on an official visit to Russia at Dmitry Medvedev's invitation.

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PRESIDENT OF RUSSIA DMITRY MEDVEDEV: Mr President, it is a great pleasure to welcome you in the Kremlin.

We have had a number of meetings recently and can even say that we have been meeting on a regular basis on the sidelines of various summits. Now the time has come for your official visit to our country and I am very glad to see you and am confident that it will be an excellent opportunity for us to discuss a wide range of Russia-Pakistani bilateral cooperation issues.

"We should step up our economic cooperation, and we are certainly interested in coordinating our efforts in global politics."

Overall, relations between Russia and Pakistan have been progressing consistently and steadily. We’ve seen interest in mutual cooperation from our business communities, regional authorities and public organisations. This year your visit to our country will be followed by a visit of the National Assembly Speaker. I therefore see excellent prospects for our cooperation. I believe we should step up our economic cooperation, and certain steps have been taken already but more needs to be done in various areas. I hope that the documents that will be signed today will serve the purpose of increasing the scope of our economic cooperation.

We are certainly interested in coordinating our efforts in global politics, in the international arena because our countries are evidently facing similar threats, namely international terrorism. We are to stand united if we want to be able to counter this major threat of the 21st century.

I would like to discuss with you today various international issues connected with the situations in the region, in the Middle East, and in other parts of the globe, as the success of our common endeavours will largely depend on the degree of our coordination.

Mr President, this is your first official visit to Russia and I hope that your trips to Moscow and St Petersburg will give you a very clear understanding of the current situation in this country and will be a strong impetus to our bilateral relations. Once again, welcome to our country.

PRESIDENT OF PAKISTAN ASIF ALI ZARDARI: Thank you, Mr President.

First of all, I must thank you on behalf of myself and the people of Pakistan for the warm welcome I have had in your beautiful country.

As far as I am concerned, this is a very historic visit, a beginning of a new relationship with Russia. The last official visit to Russia was by my late father-in-law 27 years ago. It is time that we recognise the importance of each of our countries in the regional context and further our cooperation in the economic field and in the political field.

I am carrying with me the wishes of my Parliament, my Prime Minister, my Government and the hopes of my people to have better relations with Russia and to define a new relationship in the regional context. The world recognises that all nations and countries that are prosperous, are prosperous because of bilateral relationships and bilateral trade among neighbours. We are very close neighbours, we are in the same region. Our borders don’t touch but our hearts do.

I feel there’s great room for improvement, and it is a great moment for me and I am grateful to His Excellency Mr President. It is his friendship and it is his graciousness that brings our two countries together today for the future and for the coming generations, and history will remember it as such.