Russia on Friday rejected as “false” recent media reports claiming it is strengthening economic cooperation with Pakistan, specifically through the joint establishment of steel mills in Karachi.
Various media outlets had reported that both countries were working towards reviving their 1970s-era industrial partnership — when the Soviet Union helped design and fund the Pakistan Steel Mills — by launching a new steel project, news agency IANS reported.
The reports claimed this proposal was discussed during a May 13 meeting in Islamabad between Haroon Akhtar Khan, Special Assistant to Pakistan’s Prime Minister, and Russian envoy Denis Nazaroof.
According to reports, dismissed now, the two sides held detailed talks and agreed to create a joint working group to advance the proposed steel mill project in Karachi.
However, officials in Moscow refuted the notion that a “multibillion-dollar contract” had been signed, despite acknowledging preliminary discussions on the topic, the news agency report said.
