Nuaman Ishfaq Mughal,
Islamabad: Foreign Secretary Tehmina Janjua and Russian Ambassador in Pakistan Alexey Dedov, proposed a united front for strengthening ties between Pakistan and Russia. They expressed this hope while speaking at an international conference, titled, ‘Pakistan – Russia Strategic Relations: Prospects for Cooperation,’ organised by an Islamabad-based think tank, Strategic Vision Institute (SVI).
Ms Janjua said Pakistan and Russia were having an “emerging partnership” which had “tremendous scope”. She said the growth in relations was underpinned by progressive institutional relations, summit-level exchanges, military ties, and strategic cooperation for peace in Afghanistan. She also praised Russian role in de-escalating the recent Indo-Pak crisis and its offer to mediate between the two countries.
The foreign secretary saw, “a change in the configuration of Pak-Russia relations” from Moscow’s “nuanced policy towards South Asia,” adding Russia’s policy for peace and stability in the region was balanced, she maintained.
Ambassador Dedov joined her in mentioning the upcoming high-level bilateral engagement in Kyrgyzstan in June, to be held on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Summit. Dedov noted that Pakistan’s membership to SCO had advanced the potential of cooperation between the two countries.
Mentioning the institutional processes between the two countries, he said the high-level political dialogue was leading to deeper ties. Meanwhile, the economic cooperation was said to be driven by the Intergovernmental Commission on Trade, Economic, Scientific and Technical Cooperation. A meeting of the commission had been planned for the last quarter of this year, he maintained.
The ambassador further said that energy formed the core of Pak-Russia’s economic collaboration while giving an overview of the developments related to the North-South gas pipeline. He said that Russia had completed its internal procedures in the wake of the inter-governmental agreement signed in 2015 and was now waiting for Pakistani partners to complete similar measures on their side.
“We are now at the stage of agreement from the implementing agency,” he added. Dedov regretted that the unsettled issue of mutual financial obligations, as well as a lack of connection between corresponding banks, were impeding this economic cooperation.
SVI President, Dr Zafar Iqbal Cheema also gave a presentation on the occasion. He made note of the progress made by Pakistan and Russia in building their diplomatic and political relations; their mutual cooperation for peace in Afghanistan; military ties and the strategic stability dialogue.
Dr Cheema said the two countries had been negotiating the trade of military hardware for a few years yet made little headway, so far. He pointed out that close ties between Moscow and Delhi in addition to the S-400 missile system deal worth five billion dollars and a 10-year lease agreement for the new Russian SSN (nuclear-powered general-purpose attack submarine) concerned Pakistan.
The conference was also addressed by other local and Russian speakers.
