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Pakistan’s naval ship makes first ever call at Novorossiysk Black Sea port

PNS Aslat Frigate of the Pakistani Navy called on Thursday at the Russian Black Sea port of Novorossiysk for a friendly business visit

KRASNODAR, October 17 (Itar-Tass) - PNS Aslat Frigate of the Pakistani Navy called on Thursday at the Russian Black Sea port of Novorossiysk for a friendly business visit, the head of the information activities office of the Russian Black Sea Fleet told Tass.

“This is the first time that Pakistani navy sailors visit a Russian port,” Captain First Rank Vyacheslav Trukhachyov said. The aim of the visit is to develop naval cooperation between Russia and Pakistan.

This friendly visit by PNS Aslat is a new stage in cooperation between Russia and Pakistan, Pakistan Fleet Commander Admiral Khan Hasharm Bin Saddique told Tass. He said Russian naval ships would also get a possibility to call at Pakistani ports.

Frigate’s commander Ahmed Farooq said he was proud that PNS Aslat was the first Pakistani naval ship to make a business call at the Russian port of Novorossiysk.

The program of the visit includes a visit to the city mayor and the commander of the Novorossiysk naval base, meetings of Pakistani and Russian seamen on board the ship and at sports grounds of the city where they will hold a mini football match and will try their strength in a tug of war competition.

Besides, Pakistani navy sailors will take part in a ceremony to put flowers to a war memorial, will visit the cruiser-museum Mikhail Kutuzov and the memorial complex Malaya Zemlya. Malaya Zemlya (Minor Land) was a Soviet uphill outpost recaptured after fierce battles with the Germans on the night of February 4, 1943. The episode paved the way for a Soviet attack on German forces in Novorossiisk.

They will make a sightseeing tour of the city and its resorts. The Pakistani frigate will be open for local residents.

The visit will continue till October 20. The Aslat is F-22P Zulfiquar Class frigate, built fully at a Pakistani shipyard and commissioned on September 3, 2013.

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