Distinguished President of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, Your Excellency Mr. Asif Ali Zardari.
Your Excellencies Ambassadors,
Dear Guests,
Ladies and Gentlemen!
It gives me great pleasure to welcome you at the official reception on the occasion of our national holiday – Day of Russia. The holiday’s history dates back 35 years to the adoption of the Declaration of State Sovereignty of the RSFSR on June 12, 1990. This day is an excellent occasion to recall the great strength of centuries-old traditions, moral and ethical values and strong spiritual foundations of our Fatherland, the multinational Russian people’s patriotism and devotion to their Motherland, pride in it, immense respect and honor for its millennia-long history, achievements and conquests of our ancestors in various fields – politics and economics, science, culture, art, sports. All of this has made Russia a great independent world power capable of withstanding any challenges.
As our President Vladimir Putin once said, back in the day, Ancient Russia united Slavic, Finno-Ugric, Turkic and other tribes from the Baltic to the Black Sea. Its glory and power grew and solidified during the great eras of the Moscow Tsardom, the Russian Empire and the Soviet Union. All of these stages represent an integral part of modern Russia.
As the Russian leadership pursues a strategic course aimed at profoundly modernizing the national economy, improving the quality of life of our citizens, and strengthening the international prestige of our country, it receives the broadest support not only within Russia, but also among the governments and peoples of the friendly states of the so-called Global South and East, which constitute the world majority.
On the international level, today we are currently tasked with implementing the Great Eurasian Partnership initiative, which was launched by the President of Russia. This initiative is intended to serve as a socio-economic foundation for efforts to create a new security system in Eurasia, designed to become a pillar of conflict-free coexistence on the continent.
According to the 2023 edition of the Concept of the Foreign Policy of the Russian Federation, today Russia is “one of the sovereign centres of global development performing a historically unique mission aimed at maintaining global balance of power and building a multipolar international system, as well as ensuring conditions for the peaceful progressive development of humanity on the basis of a unifying and constructive agenda”.
It was precisely these objectives, including in the context of countering the collective West’s attempts to impose a neo-colonial order based on rules that are understandable and profitable only to the West itself, that inspired Moscow’s decision to launch the Special Military Operation in Ukraine. Today we are compelled to defend our interests in the face of unprecedented threats to our security, emerging from the West’s deliberate long-term anti-Russian policy, which uses the puppet regime in Kyiv as its spearhead.
This year, we celebrated an important milestone – the 80th anniversary of the victory in the Great Patriotic War of 1941-45. It honors the extraordinary feat and triumph of our ancestors, whose immeasurable courage and great sacrifice saved humanity from the Nazi plague. It is gratifying that the authorities and the people of Pakistan remember and value the enormous contribution of the Soviet people to the defeat of the Nazi invaders. This was clearly demonstrated by the participation of the President of Pakistan, H.E. Mr. Asif Ali Zardari, Speaker of the National Assembly and Chairman of Sentate, as well as other high-ranking statesmen and politicians of Pakistan in the reception at the Russian Embassy.
We are pleased to note the steady build-up of Russian-Pakistani ties in various fields. I should like to emphasize strengthened cooperation in trade, economy, agriculture, education and culture. Over the past two years, bilateral trade turnover has amounted to $2 billion, with an average of $1 billion per year.
There is an actively developing dialogue between the Offices of the Presidents and Prime Ministers, as well as the Foreign Ministries of Russia and Pakistan. Russian Ministries of Energy, Transportation and Finance are working closely with their Pakistani counterparts.
An important milestone of Russian-Pakistani engagement will be the 10th anniversary meeting of the Intergovernmental Commission (IGC), scheduled to be held in Islamabad in late 2025.
We can see a intensive inter-parliamentary dialog continuing. As a follow-up to the 2024 contacts, the Chairman of the Senate of Pakistan, Mr. Yusuf Raza Gilani, visited Moscow last month despite Islamabad’s complicated foreign policy situation. Pakistan took an active part in the recent Forum on Eurasian Security of the International Conference of Asian Political Parties held in Perm.
We look positively on interregional cooperation between our countries, in particular between St. Petersburg and Balochistan.
We support Pakistan’s interest in encouraging people to study the Russian language. As you may know, recently, on June 6, the international community celebrated Russian Language Day, which coincides with the birthday of the great Russian poet Alexander Pushkin. The Russian Federation is making consistent, targeted efforts to protect and support the Russian language worldwide. We endeavor to meet the needs in foreign countries for learning and using the Russian language, and to promote an objective understanding of Russia among foreign audiences. We are moving forward together with our partners to launch the International Organization for the Russian Language, established in 2023. We assist in opening Russian language and culture centers throughout Pakistan. Recently, one more such center was opened in Lahore with the active involvement of the local Russian Alumni Association.
We are working closely with Pakistan at various multilateral platforms, including the UN, the SCO and the OIC. As you know, in 2025, Russia took over the chairmanship of the SCO HGC from Pakistan. We look forward to continued productive work in all priority areas, in particular in ensuring regional security and strengthening anti-terrorist capabilities.
In conclusion, I would like to once again congratulate all compatriots on Russia Day, and wish everyone present peace and prosperity.
Thank you for your attention.
