Pakistan’s new Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Russian President Vladimir Putin have quietly exchanged letters to strengthen bilateral relations, a media report said on Sunday, amidst allegations by Imran Khan that his maiden visit to Moscow, much against Washington’s wishes, led to his ouster.

The letters were exchanged after the election of Shehbaz as Prime Minister but both sides kept development away from the media glare, The Express Tribune reported.

A senior Pakistan foreign office official confirmed to the newspaper that President Putin wrote a letter to the Prime Minister, congratulating him on his election. The official, who requested not to be named, said Putin expressed his desire to deepen cooperation between the two countries.

A day after his appointment as Pakistan Prime Minister, President Putin sent a congratulatory message to Shehbaz which was made public by the Kremlin Press Office.

“Our countries share friendly and constructive relations. I hope that as Prime Minister you will seek to further promote closer multifaceted cooperation between Russia and Pakistan, as well as partnership in the Afghan settlement and countering international terrorism,” it quoted Putin as saying on April 12.

Shehbaz wrote back to Putin thanking him for his felicitation message and expressed similar sentiments on bilateral ties between the two countries as well as cooperation on Afghanistan, The Express Tribune reported.

The exchange of letters took place at a time former Prime Minister Khan is adamant he was ousted from power through an alleged US-backed vote of no-confidence since Americans did not like his visit to Moscow to meet President Putin on February 24, the day the Russian President ordered the invasion of Ukraine.

Khan has repeatedly said the US did not want him to visit Russia and the national security adviser of President Joe Biden called Khan’s national security adviser Moeed Yusuf, urging him to call off the Prime Minister’s visit to Moscow.