MOSCOW, June 3. /TASS/. Special Assistant to Pakistan's Prime Minister Seid Tariq Fatemi handed over a letter from the Islamic republic's cabinet chief Shahbaz Sharif for Russian leader Vladimir Putin during a meeting with Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in Moscow, the Pakistani embassy told TASS.

"The special assistant handed over a letter addressed to President Vladimir Putin from Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif," the diplomatic mission noted.

Fatemi also conveyed the prime minister's good wishes and "the Pakistani government's desire to expand bilateral cooperation with Russia on a wide range of issues" such as energy, transport links, trade and other areas, the embassy stressed. "He also briefed the Russian foreign minister in detail on recent South Asian developments," the diplomatic mission added.

Relations between India and Pakistan turned strained after the April 22 terror attack in the popular tourist town of Pahalgam (Indian union territory of Jammu and Kashmir), which killed 25 Indians and one Nepali. The situation further escalated early on May 7 when Indian Armed Forces launched Operation Sindoor, targeting nine sites in Pakistan and areas of Kashmir under Islamabad’s control, which New Delhi claims are terrorist havens. Pakistan delivered retaliatory strikes. On May 10, the sides agreed to cease fire and look at reducing their troops in the border areas.