Table of Contents
WHAT JUST HAPPENED?
• Pakistan and Russia signed an agreement on Tuesady at their first Joint Military Consultative Committee (JMCC) meeting in Rawalpindi during which the two sides discussed the present status of the bilateral defence relations and agreed that Pakistani troops will receive training at the Russian military training institutes.
IMPROVEMENT IN RELATIONS
• In 2007, the relations between Pakistan and the Russian Federation were reactivated after the 3-day official visit of Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Fradkov.
• He was the first Russian prime minister to visit Pakistan in the post Soviet-era in 38 years. He had “in-depth discussions” with President Pervez Musharraf and Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz.
RUSSIA’S SUPPORT TO PAKISTAN
•In 2011, Russia changed its policy and Putin publicly endorsed Pakistan’s bid to join the Shanghai Cooperation Organization
• In 2011, Russia strongly condemned the NATO strike in Pakistan and the Russian foreign minister stated it is unacceptable to violate the sovereignty of a state, even when planning and carrying out counter-insurgent operations.
NOTES
•Russia signs a landmark defence deal in 2015. This deal includes sale of four Mi-35 ‘Hind E’ attack helicopters to Pakistan. Russia is also interested in joining CPEC, which will benefit CPEC and strengthen Pakistan’s economy.
•Another deal in 2015 includes Russia to invest $2bn in project of constructing North-South gas pipeline, first phase of which is expected to conclude by Dec 2017.
MILITARY EXERCISES
•The two countries have held two editions of the joint military exercise named “DRUZBA” (Friendship) in Pakistan in 2016 and in Russia in 2017.
•Both countries also held counter-narcotics naval exercise called “Arabian M RUSSIA’S APPRECIATION Russian Deputy Minister had expressed his appreciation for Pakistan Army’s achievements against terrorism and expressed requirement of greater cooperative and collaborative approach among global community to defeat extremism.
COMPARED TO THE U.S PAKISTAN TIES
The relations between Pakistan and the US nosedived this January after President Donald Trump accused Islamabad of giving nothing to Washington but “lies and deceit” and providing “safe haven” to terrorists.
CUT IN AID
•The US Congress also passed a bill to slash Pakistan’s defence aid to $150 million, significantly below the historic level of more than $1 billion per year.
•The US military institutions are struggling to fill the 66 slots they had kept aside for officers from Pakistan for the next academic year, as the Trump administration refused to provide funds for their trainin
HISTORY
• Pakistani officers have been receiving military training and education in the US since early 1960s, which were suspended in the 1990s but restored after the 11 September, 2001 terrorist attacks.
• Previously, it was not just Pakistan that valued the training and education of its officers received in the US.
• US military institutions also proudly owned training officers who assumed senior positions after returning home, such as former Army chief General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani, and Lt Gen Naveed Mukhtar, the current director general of the Inter-Services Intelligence
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