Valdai Club

On June 6, the first Russian-Pakistani expert dialogue between the Valdai  Discussion Club and Pakistan House analytical centre will take place, titled “Strategic relations between Russia and Pakistan”. The event will be held at the Moscow site of the Club; its address is: Tsvetnoy Boulevard, 16/1.

The Club has invited Pakistan's leading experts to Russia, including government officials, the military, as well as experts in the field of international relations. The main objective of the conference is to review the common challenges in the field of security and economic relations for the states of the Central Asian region as well as Russia and Pakistan during a critical period for the whole world.

Major Russian-Pakistani conferences are quite rare for the intellectual community of the two countries. The Valdai Club is acting as a pioneer in this respect.

Islamabad's policy is of great importance for security and stability in South Asia and the Middle East. Pakistan has been pursuing a balanced course in recent years, strengthening ties with both Russia and China. Islamabad has repeatedly stressed that the sovereign foreign policy line of the country is fully consistent with the national interests of Pakistan. Relations between Russia and Pakistan are becoming more important strategically.

The meeting will consider the main issues of bilateral relations in the broadest sense - in the field of politics, economics, and the development of public relations. The regional and international context of cooperation will also be analysed.

During the one-day conference, Russian and Pakistani experts will discuss the following issues:

• Russian-Pakistani security cooperation;
• The regional context of relations between Russia and Pakistan;
• Bilateral ties in the economic and social spheres.

About 25 experts from Pakistan and Russia will take part in the Russian-Pakistani Expert Dialogue.

From the Pakistani side, the expert dialogue will be attended by: Qazi M. Khalilullah, Executive Director, Center for International the Strategic Studies Sindh; Ambassador of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan to the Russian Federation (2016–2019); Muhammad Athar Javed, Pakistan House CEO; Mirza Aqeel Baig, Head of the Economic Department of the Institute of Business Management;  Shahida Wizarat,  Dean of the College of Economics and Social Development at the Institute of Business Management; Khalid Rabbani, Lieutenant General (ret.), Pakistan House Advisory Board member; and H.E. Shafqat Ali Khan, Ambassador of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan to the Russian Federation.

From the Russian side, the participants of the conference will be: Mohammad Omar Nessar, Senior Researcher of the Center for the Study of the Countries of the Near and Middle East at the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences; Ivan Safranchuk, Director and Leading Researcher at the Centre for Eurasian Studies at MGIMO, Russian Foreign Ministry; Aleksei Kupriyanov, Head of the Group of South Asia and the Indian Ocean Region at the Centre for Asia-Pacific Studies, IMEMO RAS; Natalya Zamaraeva, senior researcher at the Centre for the Study of the Countries of the Near and Middle East at the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences; Vladimir Sotnikov, Senior Researcher, Department of Economic Research, Institute of Oriental Studies, Russian Academy of Sciences; Andrey Bystritskiy, Chairman of the Board of the Foundation for Development and Support of the Valdai Discussion Club; Fyodor Lukyanov, Research Director of the Valdai Discussion Club; and Oleg Barabanov,  Programme Director of the Valdai Discussion Club.

Working languages: English, Russian.

Information for the media: In order to get accredited for the event, please fill out the form on our website or call +79269307763.