Also, joint anti-terror command and staff exercises of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization will be held, he added.

“Peace Mission – 2016, the joint drills of peacekeeping forces of the Collective Security Treaty Organization codenamed Indestructible Brotherhood, the Frontier-2016 joint command and staff drills, the Indra-2016 Russian-Indian exercises and the Selenga-2016 Russian-Mongolian drills will be held,” the commander said.

Indeed, Moscow and Islamabad have many common interests and objectives like: regional security and stability and countering threats of terrorism and extremism in all forms and manifestations. Besides, controlling illicit arms trade, drug trafficking, money laundering, cross-border organized crime.

There is sufficient desire on either side for cooperation for the early settlement of Afghan problems. Indeed, despite upheaval in the past relationship of Pakistan and Russia, there are opportunities.

The drivers of bilateral understanding

There is a solid foundation for constructing a multi-storey building of Russia-Pakistan relations. Traditionally an ally of India and hitherto supportive of India’s stance on Kashmir, Russia has shown clear signs of cozying up to Pakistan.The following mentioned parameters are the bases of Moscow-Islamabad rebuiliding bilateralism.

  • Russia has articulated its national objectives in specific South Asian countries, such as fighting drug trafficking in Afghanistan, capitalizing on India’s economic growth, and working with Pakistan, but it lacks a cohesive South Asia strategy.
  • Regional instability and Pakistan’s  political regime mean the country may face serious security threats in the coming years.
  • Pakistani and Russian security interests are increasingly intertwined, so Moscow cannot afford to ignore the emergence of new threats in Islamabad.
  • Officials from Pakistan and Russia participate in various bilateral and multilateral forums to address their shared security concerns.
  • Developing relations would benefit both countries, but there are obstacles to closer cooperation. Moscow does not want to provoke India, Pakistan’s regional rival; a history of conflict has damaged Russian-Pakistani trust; and security concerns make Russian companies reluctant to do business in Pakistan.
  • Constructive dialogue is taking place on potential Russian-Pakistani civil nuclear cooperation. Although such collaboration is unlikely, these talks allow the two countries to address shared concerns on issues like nuclear security and nonproliferation.

The geostrategic dictates

The Russian ambassador, Alex Y. Dedov, emphasised the geo-strategic importance of Pakistan to Moscow because it plays an important role in maintaining peace in the region.He said even when relations between the two states were strained, dialogue had never truly broken down.

Ambassador Dedov was speaking at an Oxbridge lecture on ‘The Russian Federation, Pakistan and the Region’, recently held in Islamabad.

The envoy discussed the history of the two states in question, and their efforts to bring peace and stability to the region.Mr Dedov said Russia was determined to bring peace in the region and that Pakistan was a key ally in this mission.

He added that Russia was not interested in forcing its policies on any country because “such policies can have a detrimental effect, the kind we have seen in the Middle East”.The ambassador noted that a significant number of questions focused on the topic, and said that Kashmir was very important to Russia because it “involves two of our neighbours”.

In the wake of 9/11 attacks Pakistan reversed its Taliban policy and became part of the US and NATO led „war on terror‟ in Afghanistan. Russia now sees how central Pakistan is to any scheme of ending the conflict in Afghanistan and bringing peace in the region. Russia and Pakistan‟s strategic interests in working for peace in Afghanistan and the region have come even closer.

Moreover, Pakistan, which feels it was unduly treated to pressures from the US in the „war on terror‟ that Russian leaders took notice of in their statements in favour of respecting Pakistan‟s sovereignty, wants to put its relations with Russia on a firm footing to diversify its foreign policy options.

Similarly to have Pakistan‟s role in maintaining regional peace after the proposed Western exit from Afghanistan, Russia has been making appropriate moves. These changing perceptions and efforts on both sides to develop closer relations have been reinforced by the evolving strategic partnership between China and Russia.

Another development that inclines Pakistan towards Russia is India‟s strategic partnership with the US and Afghanistan which the former thinks is an attempt to establish Delhi‟s military influence in Afghanistan and which is a strategy that indeed may have the aim of encircling Pakistan.

In this context Pakistan thinks that despite its friendship Russia has a nagging skepticism about India‟s future role in Afghanistan and Central Asia which might be in service of US strategic objectives in the region. Russia which sees Pakistan as a supportive hand in regional peace will not therefore support India in its anti-Pakistan Afghan politics. The pursuit of the realist theory on this two way friendship track is thus quite evident.

Yet another dimension besides its strategic interests in the region that Pakistan seeks in this new phase of its relationship with Russia is in the economic realm which under the global drive can have its own growth momentum. Pakistan seeks Russian economic assistance in the form of foreign direct investment and technological cooperation particularly in the energy field. Russia seems inclined to responding to these needs in addition to increasing the trade volume.

Pakistan and Russia find it mutually advantageous to cooperate in the economic, military and regional politico-strategic and security areas. Prospects are bright for promoting trade, investment and joint ventures in the fields of energy, infrastructure development, metal industry and agriculture sectors.

The friendly projects

Russian offers of investment in energy sector of Pakistan like conversion of Muzaffargarh power house to the coal fired station, work at Jamshoro Thermal Power plant, Thar Coal project and oil exploration should be availed and steps should be taken for their implementation.

For energy flow from energy surplus Central Asia to energy deficit South Asia, Pakistan should play a vital role and in this regard strong Pak-Russia cooperation can bring economic uplift in the entire region.

Russian cooperation for expansion of Pakistan Steel Mills, precious minerals and metal exploration, their subsequent mining, extraction, processing and refinement, as well as assistance in defence, metallurgical and telecommunication fields, supply of civil, aeronautical and helicopter engineering capacity to Pakistan and for other such projects should be sought.

The economic and military cooperation

From Russian point of view, Islamabad is a very important player in joint efforts to maintain regional stability, especially in view of the deteriorating situation in Afghanistan and growing threats of international terrorism fuelled by ISIS and rampant drug production. These factors require collective counteraction and target-oriented capacity building.

Russia had lifted its embargo on arms exports to Pakistan in 2014 and also signed a bilateral defence agreement to strengthen military-to-military relations between Moscow and Islamabad.
In June 2015, the two countries signed a landmark deal for the sale of four Mi-35 attack helicopters to Pakistan.Not surprisingly, Moscow and Islamabad are to conclude the talks on the sale of the Sukhoi Su-35 fighter jet, a long-range combat aircraft that would enhance Pakistan’s ability to conduct  maritime patrols andpenetrate deeper into enemy territory. The export of the Su-35 will provide a real test of the extent to which Russia is willing to depart from its historic alliance with India. Pakistan is also exploring the purchase of a range of other Russian defense hardware, including the Yak-130 combat trainer aircraft.

Pakistani has also been focusing on increasing exports of products like raw materials, agricultural produce, finished and unfinished textile, leather products as well as cheap skilled, unskilled and technical manpower to Russia.

Pakistan and Russia recently inked $2 billion North-South gas pipeline project with an additional capacity for LNG covering some 1100-kilometre link from Karachi to Lahore. Russia would be building the project with an estimated cost of $2 billion and its first phase would be completed by 2018.Russia may also joinTajikistan and Kyrgyzstan in the CASA-1000 energy project, providing Afghanistan and Pakistan with electricity.Russia wants to supply power through CASA transmission line during winter season when energy supplies from CASA partners will not be feasible.

The military drills

Pakistan and Russia have agreed to hold first-ever joint military exercises as part of their enhanced defence cooperation, in a sign of increasing bonhomie between the Cold War-era adversaries.

The agreement was reached during a meeting in Moscow between Pakistan defence minister Khawaja Asif and his Russian counterpart Sergei Shoigu, Express Tribune reported.

“We agreed to enhance cooperation in both defence industry and military training,” Asif was quoted as saying by state-run Russian news agency Sputnik International.Pakistan and Russia last year signed a military cooperation agreement to deepen their defence ties and vowed to translate their relationship in “tangible” terms during the first-ever visit of a Russian defence minister in 45 years.

Conclusion

The mutual overtures between Russia and Pakistan are part of a greater shift in international relations. In Europe, Russia is embroiled in a showdown with the West over Ukraine, with Moscow’s military adventure in Crimea being followed by Western sanctions. In the Asia-Pacific, China’s encroachments in the South China Sea has inflamed tensions with other Asia-Pacific countries allied with the U.S. These developments have forced Russia and China to look for allies, which explains the bonhomie between the two powers of late.

Some analysts question whether a partnership motivated by external factors could lead to an alliance of countries that formerly distrusted each other.

But the old adage “the enemy of my enemy is my friend” fits perfectly well here; the single most important factor that overrides all others is their concurrent perception of the U.S. and its “policy of containment” towards them. China needs allies to change the world order and it begins with Asia.

Pakistan and Russia enjoy an excellent relationship based on mutuality of interest in enhancing greater bilateral cooperation and convergence of views on various important regional and international issues. Russia also has other reasons for moving ahead with attempts to improve links with Pakistan. Russia is seeking new markets for its military hardware to keep its economy afloat.

There has also been anxiety in Moscow over India’s new found warmth with the US and other Western countries in the context of military procurements. Russia is also keen to gain Pakistan’s help in controlling its own Muslim insurgents. It thinks that better bilateral ties could help sort out some of these problems or at least mitigate their fallout.

The endgame in Afghanistan is one of the major factors behind the evolving Pak-Russia rapprochement. Russia would not like US military bases in Afghanistan and so would Pakistan. India foresees a role in Afghanistan and US military bases would provide her a dedicated strength to continue as an American proxy.

Russia and Pakistan have lately been working on enhancing defence cooperation and are believed to have already covered a lot of ground. Exchange of visits by military commanders in recent years is an indication of progress achieved in this regard. India’s decision to enter into tighter embrace with the US had prompted Russia to rethink its defence relationship with Pakistan.

Pakistan’s successful wooing of Russia is one example of its ability to deftly navigate the complexity of a G-Zero world, in which there are multiple centers of gravity and no sole country or alliance is able to “drive an international agenda.” With strong or growing ties with all permanent UNSC members as well as regional powers like Iran, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and Turkey, Pakistan is becoming what geostrategist Ian Bremmer calls a “pivot state.”