NEW YORK – Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi held an important meetingwith his Russian counterpart Sergey Viktorovich Lavrov in New York.

The meeting was held on the sidelines of the 73rd session of the UN GeneralAssembly.

Both ministers discussed broader areas of mutual cooperation includingtrade and investment, peace and security, and development cooperation.

Qureshi stressed the need to translate the gradually increasingmulti-dimensional partnership between the two countries into multi-facetedstrategic partnership.

The two leaders, the communique added, also discussed the ongoing effortsfor peace and stability in Afghanistan.

Foreign Minister appreciated cooperation with Russia in the field of energyand termed it as a ‘strong pillar’ of partnership between the two countries.