MOSCOW: After decades of frigid ties, Russia has finally begun to reach out to Pakistan. Economic, political and even defense ties are growing between the two countries.
The international media has been rife with speculation that Moscow is using its ties with Islamabad as a bargaining tool with its long-standing ally New Delhi.
Petr Topychankov, South Asia expert and Associate in the Carnegie Moscow Center’s Non proliferation Program, in an interview to (Russia beyond the headline) tried to dispel the myths surrounding Moscow’s recent outreach to Islamabad.
According to Petr Topychkanov Russia’s relations with Pakistan are rising, first of all, on the political level. It means that the number of contacts is rising and political relations are much more active than say 15 years ago. There are some significant events in this field. For example, Russia’s full support of Pakistan's membership of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO).
Pakistan helped Russia to ensure its food security, when after a self-imposed food embargo against Western countries, Russia needed to find to food suppliers. Pakistan started supplying Russia with agricultural products.
As for defense cooperation, there are some developments as well. The countries signed an agreement on military technical cooperation in 2014. There have not been any arms purchases yet, but talks on four transport helicopters are mostly finished. Then, there were small-scale drills, and this year there will be joint drills in the mountains.
The Russian-Pakistani Consultative Group on Strategic Stability is actively working. These meetings are attended by high-level officials from the foreign and defense ministries of both countries.
Other than that, there are also some developments in economic cooperation. A Rostech subsidiary has begun constructing a local gas pipeline. Despite the project not being that big, I can call it a big success when compared to the past, he said.
According to him Americans did give some aid to Pakistan in recent years, but these amounts didn't make Pakistan dependent on Washington. Pakistan has other close friends, and China is one of them.
From this point of view, Russia's slight approach to Pakistan looks logical. Russia and Pakistan have common interests in economy and security. Russia also wants to work with different partners in the region and not be stuck with just one partner. Russia is finally getting a balanced approach towards the region and seems to be elaborating a strategic approach to South Asia, which is logical.
From the point of view of regional security, all three sides want peace and stability in South Asia. SCO will not try to help India and Pakistan find a solution to the Kashmir problem. SCO is not going to push India and Pakistan towards a solution of their nuclear disputes. This is not a matter of SCO
One of the most successful things that SCO has been doing is defense and anti-terrorism cooperation between members. SCO will also help them to start taking part in joint military drills. All this is very positive both for the region and for Russia's strategy in the region, Petr Topychankov concluded.
