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Dushanbe, July 30 (Interfax) - The ongoing growth in bilateral trade between Moscow and Islamabad, even amid the global financial and economic crisis, is a "good signal" for Russian-Pakistani relations, said Russian President Dmitry Medvedev

"While studying materials, I was surprised to find out that unlike with other countries, which were affected by the economic crisis, not only has our trade with Pakistan not dropped over the past three or five months, but on the contrary, it has risen. It is a good signal," Medvedev said at a meeting with Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari in Dushanbe on Thursday.

The Russian president said he was willing to discuss with his Pakistani counterpart both the prospects for trade relations and critical regional issues such as fight against terrorism, drug crime, "those challenges that our countries have been faced with."

"I hope these challenges will be addressed with our joint efforts," the Russian president said.

Meetings with the Pakistani president are becoming more regular, he said. "We are now often talking to each other. This is good for the development of the Russian-Pakistani dialog. We met in Yekaterinburg not long ago, where we spoke about the development of our trade and humanitarian cooperation. Today we are meeting in Dushanbe. This is very useful for building solid future-oriented relations between Russia and Pakistan," Medvedev said.