Pakistan and Russia Sign Military Cooperation Agreement
Pakistan and Russia Sign Military Cooperation Agreement
Pakistan and Russia have recently signed a military cooperation agreement for deepening of defence ties and translation of bilateral relations into “tangible” terms. This is the first visit of a Russian Defence Minister in 45 years in the country of Pakistan.
Agreement Hailed as A Milestone
The agreement was signed between Defence Minister Khawaja Asif and Russian counterpart Sergey Shoigu. It was hailed by the defence ministry of Pakistan as a “milestone” in the development of defence ties between the two nations. The agreement was signed in Islamabad. This is also a historic deal because this is the first visit by a Russian defence minister to this nation since the collapse of the Soviet Union. Shogun was accompanied by a delegation comprising 41 members.
Features of the Agreement
This agreement provides the framework for exchange of information on political as well as military issues. Another area covered by the agreement is the cooperation for the promotion of international security and the intensification of counter terrorism as well as arm control activities. Collaboration between the two nations will also be strengthened in numerous military fields and areas as part of this agreement including medicine, topography, history, education culture and hydrography. Experiences in peacekeeping operations is also part of the agreement. The agreement between the two sides is for fighting international terrorism and drug trafficking as well.
“During the meeting, we agreed that bilateral military cooperation should have a great practical focus and contribute to increasing combat efficiency of our armed forces,” Mr Shoigu was said to have commented by ITAR-TASS.
“During the meeting, we agreed that bilateral military cooperation should have a great practical focus and contribute to increasing combat efficiency of our armed forces,” the Russian defence minister indicated. He added that implementation of the agreement would boost other aspects of bilateral cooperation.
Defence Minister Khawaja Asif was quoted by Dawn as saying “both sides will translate this relationship in tangible terms and further strengthen military to military relations”.
Forging Cooperation
Foreign Office spokesperson Tasneem Aslam at a press conference said Pakistan looked at Russia as an important international player with an important role in peace and stability of the region.
“We have been forging very good cooperation. Our bilateral relations are on an upward trajectory and it’s not just defence, we are looking at cooperation across the board,” Aslam indicated. She also said “There are various initiatives in the works.”
Defence and Military Cooperation Agreement
Considering that the last visit occurred in 1969 when USSR defence minister Andrey Grechko visited the country, this is a major step forward for ties between the two nations. The two sides also focused on boosting defence cooperation between the two nations and stressed the need for continuation of momentum gained at the time of the Moscow conference.
Other Important Developments
Russia and Pakistan also sought to enhance and deepen bilateral ties and the latter sought to take Russian companies to a new level of involvement as far as investment opportunities in energy and infrastructure sectors in Pakistan are concerned.
Russian cooperation for getting Pakistan a full fledged membership of the SCO-Shanghai Cooperation Organisation was also sought. While US led NATO forces are withdrawing from Afghanistan, Russia is now making a move to deepen ties in Pakistan. Russia also seeks to look eastwards following the Western sanctions over the Ukraine issue and BRIC as well as other Asian nations offer a chance to expand ties in a different direction for this former Soviet Union nation.
