PM Shehbaz accepts invitations from US 'rivals'.

ISLAMABAD -- Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif will travel to Beijing in November while he has also accepted an invitation from Russian President Vladimir Putin for a visit to Moscow in a telling move that contradicts claims that Pakistan may maintain a distance from the United States adversaries following the ouster of former prime minister Imran Khan.

The development comes at a time when there are efforts underway to reset the troubled relationship between Pakistan and the US. A senior adviser of the US Secretary of State recently visited Islamabad while the Biden administration approved a $450 million sale of F-16 equipment in a sign that Washington wants to maintain a working relationship with Islamabad.

In the middle of all this, Shehbaz's meetings with President Xi and President Putin were significant and showed Pakistan was trying to maintain a delicate balance in its ties with big powers.

The transcript released by Putin's office after meeting Shehbaz conveyed Russian eagerness to deepen ties with Pakistan. At the same time Chinese President Xi Jinping, in a maiden meeting with Shehbaz Sharif, termed the Pakistani prime minister as 'a person of pragmatism and efficiency'.

Shehbaz also heaped praise on Putin, calling Russia a 'superpower' and its president a 'man of words'.

For his part, the Russian president began his meeting with Shehbaz by recalling his working relationship with his elder brother Nawaz Sharif when he was the country's premiere.

Observers believe that Shehbaz's flurry of meetings with Russian and Chinese presidents indicated that Pakistan's policy seeking diversification in its foreign policy options remains intact.

While Pakistan has a long-standing relationship with China, the process of rapprochement with Russia began way before Imran became the prime minister.

It was a consensus decision by the country's parliament and other stakeholders in 2011 to reach out to Russia after Islamabad's...