Sharif plan: Pakistan's Prime Minister to arrive in Russia on December 1
Pakistani Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif will visit Russia from December 1-3, Izvestia has learned. The visit was originally planned for March, but it was postponed due to the war in the Middle East. One of the topics of the negotiations may be the conflict between the United States and Iran, where Islamabad is one of the main mediators between the parties. However, it may be more important for Pakistan to discuss Russia's relations with Afghanistan, experts say. The armed conflict continues between Islamabad and Kabul, and Moscow, which has recognized the Taliban government, has expressed its readiness to help resolve it. In addition, a Russian-Pakistani business forum will be held in Moscow, where the parties can discuss new trade agreements, including barter.
Pakistan's Prime Minister travels to Russia
Pakistani Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif will finally arrive in Moscow in early December. The dates of the upcoming trip have already been agreed, a diplomatic source told Izvestia.
— It is finally agreed: from December 1 to December 3, — the interlocutor of the edition emphasized.
Izvestia also sent a request to the Russian Foreign Ministry and the presidential administration.
Preparations for the summit have been underway for a long time. Vladimir Putin invited Sharif to visit Russia during their meeting in Beijing in September 2025. At that time, the parties discussed the development of bilateral relations and the need to increase trade and economic cooperation.
As a result, the visit was scheduled for early March 2026. A Russian-Pakistani business forum was scheduled to take place in Moscow on March 4 with the participation of the Prime Minister and entrepreneurs of the two countries. However, a large-scale conflict in the Middle East intervened in the plans, and the Prime Minister's office announced the postponement of the trip due to the difficult regional and domestic political situation.
After the outbreak of the war, Islamabad became one of the intermediaries between Washington and Tehran. In April, with his assistance, representatives of the United States and Iran held talks on the cessation of hostilities. Later, on June 17, the parties signed the Islamabad Memorandum, which defined the framework for further negotiation process. However, it was not possible to achieve sustainable peace: in July, the fighting resumed.
On November 6, Pakistani Foreign Ministry spokesman Sajjad Haider Khan confirmed that Islamabad would continue mediation efforts with other regional partners.
The situation in the Middle East may also be affected during Sharif's upcoming visit to Moscow. Russia supports a diplomatic settlement of the conflict and maintains close contacts with Iran.
But this conflict is unlikely to become one of the main topics of the meeting: the parties are likely to limit themselves to an exchange of views. Islamabad is much more interested in relations between Moscow and Kabul in connection with the aggravation of the Afghan-Pakistani conflict, said Gleb Makarevich, a researcher at the IMEMO Center for the Indian Ocean Region of the Russian Academy of Sciences.
In 2026, relations between Pakistan and Afghanistan deteriorated significantly. The Pakistani Air Force has repeatedly attacked Kabul and other Afghan cities, and there have been periodic clashes on the border. Islamabad accuses Kabul of harboring militants of the Tehreek-e Taliban Pakistan (TTP, an organization recognized as a terrorist and banned in the Russian Federation), who carry out attacks on Pakistani territory. The Afghan authorities deny the charges.
At the same time, Moscow continues to develop relations with Kabul. Back in July 2025, Russia was the first to officially recognize the Taliban government, and also maintains cooperation with Afghanistan on regional security issues. In October, a meeting of the Moscow format of consultations on Afghanistan was held in the Russian capital. At that time, the Pakistani Foreign Ministry expressed interest in cooperation with the Russian Federation on Afghan issues, positively assessing its participation in the regional dialogue.
What agreements can Russia and Pakistan conclude?
Nevertheless, the central line of Shahbaz Sharif's visit is likely to be prospects in the trade and economic sphere, experts believe. One of the main events of the December visit will be the Russian-Pakistani business forum. According to the Izvestia source, it is tentatively scheduled to be held on December 2.
A large delegation of Pakistani entrepreneurs is due to arrive in Moscow, hoping to find new partners and discuss joint projects. The main areas of cooperation are textiles, the leather industry, agricultural products, sporting goods, medical instruments, IT and logistics. Agriculture and pharmaceuticals remain the most promising areas of trade, Gleb Makarevich emphasized.
Barter agreements may be concluded based on the results of the forum. Moscow and Islamabad have previously used this mechanism, among other things, due to difficulties with international payments. For example, at the first Russian-Pakistani trade and investment forum in 2024, companies from the two countries signed agreements on the exchange of agricultural products. In particular, the Russian Astarta-Agrotrading has agreed with the Pakistani Meskay & Femtee Trading Company to supply 20,000 tons of chickpeas in exchange for a similar amount of rice.
Joint industrial projects are also very promising. One of the largest is the restoration of the Pakistan Steel Mills metallurgical plant in Karachi. The company was established with the assistance of the USSR in the 1970s, but stopped production in 2015. In July 2025, Russia and Pakistan signed a protocol on the restoration and modernization of the plant. In November of the same year, Russian Energy Minister Sergei Tsivilev announced that Moscow and Islamabad were continuing to discuss a financial model for the modernization of the enterprise. At the same time, the possibility of creating a new metallurgical production on the existing site using local raw materials was considered.
Logistics remains a prerequisite for expanding trade. It has already been discussed at a meeting of the intergovernmental commission in November 2025 in Islamabad. The parties confirmed their intention to develop transport corridors and prepare a pilot railway transportation. The conflict between Tehran and Washington has also made adjustments to these Russian-Pakistani initiatives. The Russian Ambassador to Pakistan, Albert Khorev, told Izvestia in August that the launch of the Moscow–Faisalabad and Moscow–Karachi cargo routes had been repeatedly postponed due to regional tensions. Until the Rasht–Astara section is completed in Iran and the border junction with Pakistan is upgraded, mass rail transportation should not be expected.
Because of this, bilateral trade is also sagging. In 2023, the volume exceeded $1 billion, but taking into account the population of both countries, these are still very modest results. Moreover, according to Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari, in fiscal year 2025, the trade turnover with Russia amounted to $243.4 million. According to him, the decline occurred due to difficulties related to payment mechanisms, banking channels, financing schemes and logistics of cargo transportation.
At the same time, Pakistan could help Russia with labor migration. Islamabad is interested in expanding the employment opportunities of its citizens abroad. The shortage of personnel in Russia remains, although the situation varies depending on the industry, Maxim Reshetnikov, head of the Ministry of Economic Development, stressed in September. The attraction of Pakistani labor migrants can become one of the most promising areas of economic cooperation, Makarevich stressed.
Thus, the parties could advance in a number of trade and economic initiatives, but the main outcome could be political cooperation in ongoing regional conflicts.
Переведено сервисом «Яндекс Переводчик»
