Russia to support Pakistan's inclusion in BRICS

Islamabad (Reuters): Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexei Overchuk said on Thursday that Moscow would support Pakistan's inclusion in BRICS.

"We would be supportive of it," Overchuk, who is on a two-day visit to Islamabad told a joint press conference with Pakistan's Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar in Islamabad, in response to a question about Pakistan's request to become part of the grouping of the world's leading emerging market economies.

BRICS is named after Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. The bloc last year invited Saudi Arabia, Iran, Ethiopia, Egypt, Argentina and the United Arab Emirates to become members, in a move aimed at accelerating its push to reshuffle a world order it sees as outdated.

The two sides also discussed enhancing bilateral trade volume and how to overcome banking constraints for transactions.

Overchuk said that Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin would be attending the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) heads of government meeting in Islamabad next month, which he said would be important.