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KARACHI: Russia seeks to double the volume of its bilateral trade with Pakistan, Russian Consul-General Andrey V. Federov said this week, amid a thaw in Moscow-Islamabad ties.

Russia and Pakistan, once Cold War rivals, have strengthened ties in recent years, with Islamabad purchasing discounted Russian crude oil and liquefied petroleum gas in 2023 and Moscow now planning to build a new steel mill in Karachi.

The two countries traded goods and services worth $236 million from July 2024 till May 2025, compared with $1.04 billion in the same period last year, according to Pakistani central bank data. The volume of their trade rose more than 100 percent to $1.81 billion from July 2023 till June 2024, when Pakistan was facing dollar shortages and imported discounted crude oil from Russia, marking a shift from its traditional reliance on Middle Eastern suppliers.

In an interview with Arab News, Federov said this volume can be boosted as the two countries have started implementing the decisions of the 9th meeting of Russia-Pakistan Intergovernmental Commission, held in December, in which they agreed on a protocol for cooperation in the fields of trade, finance, energy, industry and agriculture, transport and infrastructure, business and finance, and science and technology.

“In last five years it (bilateral trade) was duplicated. Now we have one billion US dollars [of trade volume],” the Russian consul-general said, adding that the Russia-Pakistan trade turnover had showed 50 percent growth in the last five years. “My idea [is] that we can duplicate it once again during my staying here in Karachi.”

Federov didn’t say when his term is going to end.

Moscow could provide machinery, fertilizers, oil and gas, and some lentils and grains as part of agricultural exchange with Pakistan, according to the diplomat. Islamabad could in return supply sports goods, surgical instruments, textiles, pharmacy and kinnows that are “very, very famous” in Russia.

“Some of the Russian leading agriculture companies are ready to work with Pakistan,” he said. “There are a lot of things... we can exchange.”

Federov said Moscow and Islamabad were working to “create a bridge” which would stand for decades and that the bilateral trade would be sustained.

“It won’t be affected by any political issues. Business must cooperate. Sorry for using this word must, but I insist that business must cooperate,” he said.

Another area in which Moscow could help Pakistan was information technology (IT), according to the diplomat. Russia has a very good experience in information security, smart cities and e-government that make life of people much easier.

Pakistan’s National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA) could also assist Russia in data documentation as the South Asian had a “very good experience in this sphere.”

“World is not easy right now, and there are, as I said, a lot of spheres. We can share our experience and Pakistan also,” Federov said.

“We were together.”

Besides economy and trade, Russia and Pakistan saw their interests converging on the issue of last month’s Iran-Israel conflict. Together with China, the two countries co-sponsored a resolution in the United Nations, calling for an immediate ceasefire in the Middle East after the conflict killed hundreds on both sides.

“We were together the co-sponsors of the UN resolution on Iran situation,” the Russian envoy said. “Our relations are very close, and we are working hard on many international issues together.”

Putin last month interacted with the leaders of Iran, Israel and Pakistan to end the conflict.

“Maybe some, some of the countries are not satisfied with our role, and they want to take part of one side or another side,” the consul-general said, in an apparent reference to the United States (US) which sided with Israel and bombed Iran’s nuclear facilities on June 22 before announcing a ceasefire.
Federov said Moscow was “not satisfied” with Israel’s behavior in the region.

“But, also, I should say that we have good contacts also not only with Iran and Pakistan. We have good contacts with Israel,” he said. “We do not break our relations with Israel.”

Pakistan and Russia are members of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), a Eurasian political, economic and security organization, and have had sustained high-level interactions and institutional mechanisms.

Federov said the top leadership of Pakistan and Russia had been actively interacting at different international diplomatic forums almost every year.

“Both sides realized that we cannot live without [support from] each other,” he said.

Asked about Putin’s long-pending visit to Pakistan, Federov said: “We are all working on that, but we do not know the plans of the president.”

PESHAWAR: In a narrow alley of Peshawar’s ancient Qissa Khwani Bazaar, the scent of cardamom lingers in the air, mingling with curls of steam rising from a pair of brass samovars.

Inside a dimly lit tea shop, surrounded by chipped green and yellow teapots, 68-year-old Fazl Rehman tends to his regulars — and to history.

Known locally as Qehwa Khana, this modest establishment has been serving green tea, or qehwa, to traders, travelers, and townsfolk for more than a century. Oral tradition suggests the shop is 120 to 130 years old, one of the last remaining tea houses in what was once a vital rest stop for merchants journeying between India and Central Asia.

“First, my father ran this [tea house],” Rehman said.

“He died at 120 years of age, then I started working here. Now, I have run this business for 58 years.”

The Qissa Khwani Bazaar, or the “Storytellers’ Bazaar,” harks back to a time when tea houses like Rehman’s were gathering spots where storytellers would recite fables and news by lamplight to caravans camped for the night behind Peshawar’s once-gated walls.

As Rehman recalled, in those days trade caravans from India and Afghanistan would reach Peshawar just before the city gates were locked at dusk. They would camp nearby, sip qehwa into the early hours and listen to stories from traveling bards.

“With the morning prayer, the gates would open and the caravans would move on to Lahore, then Amritsar, and into India,” Rehman said.

“In the past, this hall would be covered with grass or dry pine needles. We would bring it from our village, Mohmand. We would place the grass or pine needles on the ground for people to sit on.”

Today, the storytellers are gone, but Qehwa Khana endures, its appeal now extending far beyond Peshawar.

Rehman said tourists from countries as distant as Japan, England, Holland, and Indonesia have visited his shop to experience the unique atmosphere and sample its tea, brewed in large kettles using an age-old method.

“It is prepared through a process,” explained Muhammad Amir, a 55-year-old teamaker.

“This brass samovar is used to heat water and when the water boils, we fill the teapot... then we place it here [on the stove], boil it further, and add qehwa leaves, sugar, and cardamom. And the qehwa is ready.”

A regular teapot, typically enough for two cups, costs about Rs50 ($0.18), making it not only a cultural staple, but also one of the most affordable pleasures in the city.

SYMBOL OF HOSPITALITY

Tea culture holds deep roots in Pakistan, particularly in the northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, where green tea, often sweetened and spiced, is a daily ritual for many. Peshawar’s old city is especially famous for its qehwa culture, where gatherings over tea are woven into the social and political fabric of everyday life.

Qehwa also remains a symbol of hospitality, often served to guests as a sign of respect, and visitors continue to trickle into Qehwa Khana, some drawn by nostalgia, others by curiosity.

Said Maluk, a native of Kurram now living in Peshawar, brought a friend recently after shopping at the market.

“I told him [friend] we would go to the famous Qehwa Khana in Qissa Khwani… we had tea and felt relaxed. Now we will go on our way,” Maluk said.

For many, sipping qehwa in the bazaar is about more than refreshment, but a return to simpler times.

“I have been coming here since childhood,” said Nargas Khan, a 65-year-old resident of the city. “I used to ride a rickshaw and do labor work in the city. After finishing my work, I would come here and drink tea. I would buy sweets from a nearby place and eat them here.”

“Now, when I come, it reminds me of my childhood and youth. We would place our cap here, coming happily. We have spent a quality life here.”