Russian President and Pakistan Prime Minister expressed a desire to strengthen cooperation

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif exchanged letters, a Pakistan media report said.

The letters, in which both expressed a desire to strengthen cooperation, were exchanged after the election of Shehbaz as Pakistan's prime minister after the ouster of Imran Khan. However, both sides kept development away from the media glare in what seemed to be a move aimed at avoiding any public attention, The Express Tribune reported.

Putin wrote a letter to the new Pakistan PM, congratulating him on his election, a Pakistan foreign office official confirmed to the Pakistani newspaper.

According to the report, Putin expressed the desire to deepen cooperation between Russia and Pakistan. Meanwhile, Shehbaz wrote back expressing similar sentiments on bilateral cooperation, as reported by ANI, a partner of TV BRICS.

Putin said he hopes Shehbaz's activities will "contribute to further development of the Pakistan-Russia cooperation and partner interaction on the Afghan settlement as well as countering international terrorism."

Pakistan and India have been members of the SCO since 2017.

Photo: Pakistan National Assembly, Reuters