DUSHANBE, September 28, 2012, Asia-Plus — The Quadrilateral Summit of Russia, Tajikistan, Afghanistan and Pakistan, which was planned in Islamabad, Pakistan from October 2-3, has been postponed.
Pakistani media sources report that a statement by the Foreign Office in Islamabad said new dates for the Summit will be worked out after seeking convenience of the respective leaders through diplomatic channels.
The summit on Afghanistan was postponed when in a letter to Pakistani President Asif Zardari, Russian President Vladimir Putin expressed his inability to attend it.
In his letter, President Putin expressed his eagerness to “jointly enhance our efforts to further develop Russian-Pakistani ties and advance mutually beneficial trade and economic projects. The Russian President wrote “I am confident that in future we shall be able to find opportunities for arranging our personal meeting. We shall always be happy to receive you in Russia”.
Pakistan’s
Dawn
reports no reasons were given either by the Foreign Office or the Russian Embassy in Islamabad for the cancellation of Mr. Putin’s much anticipated trip to Islamabad. There was also no statement from the Russian presidency or its ministry of foreign affairs on the cancellation of the visit.
While the main purpose of Mr. Putin’s visit was to attend the quadrilateral summit, he was to extensively engage with Pakistani leadership for what was described as “formalizing the silent reset” in Pak-Russia relations.
It would have been the first ever visit by a Russian president to Pakistan in the six-decade long Islamabad-Moscow relations, which have been largely uneasy and lacking in trust,
Dawn
reported on September 27.
