File photo of a press conference by Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari
Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari, in an interview with PBS Newshour from New York, on Thursday said Pakistan “is not pursuing or receiving” any discounted energy from Russia.
Responding to a question on whether Islamabad was seeking discounted energy from Moscow, Bhutto-Zardari said it was not on the cards, but admitted that Pakistan is going through “an extremely difficult economic situation, inflation, pump prices.” To tackle the energy insecurity, he said, the government was exploring “various avenues to expand our areas where we can get our energy from.” He further noted that “any energy from Russia will take a long time for us to develop.”
The foreign minister’s remarks are a direct contradiction of claims made by State Minister for Petroleum Musadik Malik last week, when he announced that Russia would provide crude oil, petrol, and diesel to Pakistan at discounted rates. Claiming that the modalities of the deal would be finalized during a visit by the Russian energy minister to Islamabad by mid-January, he emphasized that the rates offered would be in accordance with the discounts being offered to other countries.
In a press conference on Friday, Malik said the foreign minister was accurate in saying Pakistan was not currently receiving any fuel from Russia. However, he added, Pakistan had the capability to process Russian fuel and would aim to secure supplies from it next year. He said his ministry would brief the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on “technical matters” and update the foreign minister on recent developments.
During his interview with PBS, Bhutto-Zardari also discussed Pakistan’s ties with China—built on a long, shared history—and the U.S., saying Islamabad and Washington have “achieved great things” when they work together and have “faltered” when they are at odds. “I believe we are now heading in a positive direction with increased engagement on both sides,” he said, adding joint efforts were ongoing on climate, health, and economic opportunities.
PTI’s popularity
To a question on whether PTI chief Imran Khan would win if the government decides to hold early elections, the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) chairman said it wouldn’t happen. “Every other prime minister before Khan was either removed through a military coup or the orders of the Supreme Court. This is the first time through a democratic constitutional procedure a prime minister was removed from Parliament,” he said, adding that he believed the extent of Khan’s popularity was being falsely projected.
Maintaining that the federal government would not proceed to snap polls, he said there was no justifiable reason for Islamabad to break the precedent of Parliament completing its five-year term just because Khan hasn’t been in power for six months.
Afghanistan
On the interim government of Afghanistan’s continued bar on girls’ education, Bhutto-Zardari said he believed the only solution was for greater engagement with the Taliban from the entire world. “We insist that not only Pakistan but the international community must engage with Afghanistan,” he said, stressing that Pakistan fully believed women had the right to education and a right to equal space in society at all levels.
Noting that the Taliban had only been in power for a year, which was not sufficient time for them to be able to deliver on all their promises, he lamented that it was a “long time” for girls to go without education. “We continue to raise it with them. We encourage the fact that primary education for girls is allowed in Afghanistan, tertiary education for girls is allowed in Afghanistan and we look forward to the day when secondary education will also be allowed,” he added.