MOSCOW: President Asif Ali Zardari will attend the four-party summit of the presidents of Russia, Afghanistan, Pakistan and Tajikistan in Sochi on Wednesday, the Kremlin press service reported on Monday.
On the sidelines of the summit Russian President Dmitry Medvedev is expected to hold bilateral talks with his Afghan counterpart Hamid Karzai and President Asif Ali Zardari, who in view of the floods in the country has cut short his visit to few hours only.
Pakistan president spokesperson Farhatullah Babar had said that the original schedule for the presidents two day visit to Russia for participation in the quadrilateral summit was finalised several weeks ago. However, in view of the floods the president has cut the visit short to a few hours to attend only the summit on August 18.
The president will not participate in the lunch hosted in honour of the heads of states and will return to the country the same day, he said.
Talks with Tajik President Emomali Rakhmon, who will be in Russia on a working visit from August 18 to August 20, are scheduled for later, the sources said according to Itar Tass news agency.
The first four-party summit within such format was held last summer in Dushanbe. At that point, the Russian leader noted that a new format of cooperation was being born.
He stressed that all main issues – from economic cooperation to fight against drug trafficking and terrorism – could be discussed in such format
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