ISLAMABAD: Belarus Foreign Minister Sergei Aleinik is arriving here on a two-day official visit to Pakistan tomorrow (Tuesday).
According to Express Tribune, Belarus is a staunch ally of Russia and is a staging ground for the Ukraine invasion. The country is defying the West in its support to Moscow in its war against Ukraine. The visit of Belarus foreign minister to Pakistan may certainly raise eyebrows in the Western capitals, said the newspaper.
According to the Pakistani Foreign Office, Aleinik is visiting Pakistan at the invitation of Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari. The foreign minister’s visit will start from tomorrow. The Foreign Office statement suggested that the visit was meant to discuss bilateral ties. “The two foreign ministers will hold wide-ranging talks covering a range of topics of bilateral interest. They will undertake an overview of bilateral relations and explore enhanced cooperation in political, economic, defence and science and technology domains,” read the official handout.
“Pakistan and Belarus enjoy close and cordial relations. Foreign Minister last met his Belarusian counterpart on the sidelines of 77th Session of United Nations General Assembly in New York last year,” it added.
Belarus was part of the Soviet Union and became an independent country in 1991, after the collapse of Soviet Union. Since then, it has maintained close political and economic ties with Russia. The country borders three NATO-member states that were once communist states: Latvia, Lithuania and Poland. While the countries that were once part of the Soviet bloc have joined Western alliances as EU and NATO, Belarus remained under Moscow’s influence, tightly.
Strategically, Belarus is important to the Russian military effort as Belarus and Russia jointly share nearly 700 miles of border with Ukraine, and Kyiv is closer to Belarus than it is to Russia. Belarus has faced Western sanctions because of its close ties with Russia.
A Foreign Office official insisted: “Don’t read too much into the visit.” The official speaking on the condition of anonymity said, Pakistan had longstanding ties with Belarus and it had nothing to do with the conflict in Ukraine.
Pakistan has tried to tread carefully since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022. Islamabad has resisted pressure to condemn Moscow’s action. It didn’t vote against Russia at the UN General Assembly. Despite pressure from the West, Pakistan is seeking to expand ties with Russia as the current government is in process of importing oil from Moscow.
