MOSCOW: The Russian Foreign Ministry on Tuesday denied the Pakistani media reports about ‘secret negotiations’ betwee
n the two countries regarding cooperation o
n the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) project.
Reports claiming that the Russian spy chief visited Pakistan in order to inspect the Gwadar port and that Pakistan had formally authorised Russia to joi
n the project – o
n the spy chief’s request.
“The Pakistani media reports about secret negotiations between Russia and Pakistan o
n the implementation of projects as part of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) are not true to
the facts,” the Russian ministry said in a statement.
“Moscow is not discussing the possibility of joining this project [CPEC] with Islamabad,” the statement added.
“Russia-Pakistan trade and economic cooperation has its
own inherent value and we intend to strengthen it by implementing business projects including the planned construction of the North-South gas pipeline from Karachi to Lahore – o
n a bilateral basis,” the statement
concluded.
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