Russia signs historic military deal with Pakistan

Russian president Putin seems to have outsmarted US president Obama in his Asia pivot agenda which essentially means to corner China by enacting a series of actions with regional powers, and struck a historic military deal with Pakistan, the arch foe of India being promoted with military supplies by the Kremlin for decades. Today, India is the one of the largest purchasers of Russian military terror goods, just behind China.

Russia seeks more prospective customers for its arms and nuclear reactors.

According to Russian news agency TASS, Russia and Pakistan on November 20 signed their very first military cooperation agreement and laid out future avenues of cooperation, ending years of division over Islamabad's close military ties with the unilateral USA and Moscow's with India.

Sergei Shoigu, the first Russian defense minister to visit Pakistan since 1969, characterized his meeting with counterpart Khawaja Asif as an important step in strengthening ties between Moscow and Islamabad. Although the concrete terms of the agreement are not publicly known, Shoigu said joint naval exercises will be a key feature of future cooperation with Pakistan, as well as military officer exchanges, arms sales and counternarcotics and counterterrorism cooperation. Behind the scenes, Shoigu may have been negotiating an important sale of Mi-35 transport helicopters to Pakistan, Yury Barmin, an expert on Russian arms sales, told The Moscow Times.

During the meeting they agreed that bilateral military cooperation should take on a more practical orientation and enhance the combat capability of their armed forces, Shared security interests are also drawing Pakistan and Russia closer together, as evidenced by Shoigu's announcement that joint military exercises and security cooperation will become a routine feature of their bilateral relationship.

Russia approved the delivery of 20 Mi-35s to Pakistan in November, but the details still have to be negotiated. But more important than specific defense contracts are Russia's growing strategic interests in the region, driven by security concerns shared with Pakistan — such as instability in Afghanistan following the withdrawal of U.S. troops and counterterrorism and counternarcotics efforts.

Last year Russia's recorded exports to Pakistan were much more limited, valued at a mere $22 million, according to SIPRI. The total sum is somewhat higher than this, as Russia also sells arms to Pakistan through China.

Russia-India-Pakistan

Both Russia and USA have been strategic partners of India. Like USA, Russia also thinks in terms of South Asian regional interests. Pakistan's reconciliation with India after decades of animosity and periodic conflict has provided a window of opportunity for Moscow to expand its relationship with Islamabad.

Nonetheless, Moscow will play it safe to ensure that its moves do not anger India, Russia's main strategic partner in the region, said Pyotr Topychkanov, an analyst at the Carnegie Moscow Center. India last year purchased $3.8 billion worth of Russian arms — far ahead of the $981 million worth it purchased from the USA, according to data from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI).

Moscow says a strong relationship with India has to remain Russia's focus in the region and so Russian cooperation with Pakistan should be very specific and limited, while its cooperation with India should be much more strategic. Topychkanov said the main purpose of these exercises is to share experience in counterterrorism, counternarcotics and anti-piracy. This is the usual cover tactics to hide the secret arms deals.

Russian strategists claim the key concern driving Moscow to court Islamabad is the alarming flow of narcotics out of Afghanistan. "Forty percent of Afghan drugs travel by sea, and a lot of it ends up in Russian ports.

Also at play is Pakistan and India's possible ascension next year to the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, an economic and military organization comprising Russia, China and several other Central Asian states. In the run-up to the SCO's summit in Ufa in July 2015, Russia will be courting India and Pakistan and will avoid doing controversial things, such as active defense cooperation with Islamabad.

 Path of cooperation

When Pakistan came into existence in 1947 as an Islamic nation of Asia, the then Soviet Russia had not shown any real interests in Pakistan. Gradually, India began courting Russia to develop its economic infrastructure. Soviet Union began assisting India by making it an ally against US led capitalist nations, calling India a socialist nation following non-capitalist economic and social development. India made maximum profits from its  relationship with Russia for years. .

The Soviet Union and Pakistan first established the diplomatic and bilateral relations on 1 May 1948. For the most of the Cold War, the Soviet Union relations with Pakistan have seen ups and downs during the different periods of Pakistan. In 1947-50s, Soviet Union enjoyed relatively healthy and strong relations with Pakistan when it was under the civilian control but the relations went ultimately cold soon after the US-backed 1958 military coup d'état, although attempts to warm the relations were made after the 1965 Indo-Pakistan war and in the mid 1970s, the relations were quickly improved and warmed.

Benazir Bhutto, the PM of Pakistan initiated steps for making friendly ties with Russia and in 1990, sent a warm message to Moscow to set up the economic coordination between two countries. In 1991, Benazir Bhutto drove the high-level economic delegation to Central Asia and Russia after the collapse of Soviet Union. Senior military officials and Defence Attaché of Pakistan and Russia, jointly working together at the communications tent at the Nigerian Air Force Base. In 2011, Prime minister Yousaf Raza Gillani and Vladimir Putin held a frank discussion in a cordial atmosphere on 10th Heads of Government meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation. 

Changing perceptions in Pakistan

Due to rapidly shifting global geopolitical interests spurred by the end of the Cold War and the ongoing US-led War on Terror, Pakistani public opinion towards Russia has fluctuated in recent years, with 18% viewing Russia favorably in 2007, falling to 11% in 2011 and rising to 20% in 2012. According to the BBC World Service Poll, 9% of Pakistanis view Russian influence positively in 2010, falling to 12% in 2012, and increasing to 18% in 2013.

However, Pakistanis have generally rated Vladimir Putin's leadership poorly, with 7% expressing confidence in him in 2006, and only 3% in 2012, and for the most part, a plurality of Russians have consistently rated Pakistan's influence negatively, with 13% expressing a positive view in 2008, increasing slightly to 14% in 2010, and falling to 8% in 2013.

The bilateral trade between Russia and Pakistan reached to 92 million US dollar, which increased to 411.4 million in 2006. The bilateral trade between each country reached to 630 million in 2008 and 400 million in 2009. During this following year, both countries established the Russian–Pakistan Intergovernmental Commission on Trade and Economic, Scientific and Technical Cooperation to cooperation in science and technology and education.

Russia is currently financing the mega energy project, CASA-1000, transmitting the power generation from Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, and Kyrgyzstan to Pakistan; the Russia has provided 500Mn US dollars for the CASA-1000 for the power transmission project. In 2011, both countries initiated the work on the framework n the proposed Free Trade Agreement and currency swap arrangement to boost bilateral trade and further strengthen their economic ties.

Russia and Pakistan has covertly developed geopolitical and strategic relations behind the scenes of world politics. As the NATO-led ISAF and the US Forces, Afghanistan Command, is planning to depart Afghanistan in 2014, the Russian Federation came to a conclusion that Pakistan is a crucial player in Afghanistan and that, as NATO withdraws, it becomes all the more urgent for Moscow to seek some sort of modus vivendi with Islamabad.

Pakistan’s standoff with USA over NATO attacks on Pakistani military personnel has strained the ties badly, though Pakistan continues to receive   terror goods from Washington for its services lent for NATO.

Russia views Pakistan as a stepping stone to further increase its trade with Muslim nations in the region, Southeast Asia, Middle East and elsewhere, especially in military goods.

Russian president Putin seems to have outsmarted US president Obama in his Asia pivot agenda which essentially means to corner China by enacting a series of actions with regional powers, and struck a historic military deal with Pakistan, the arch foe of India being promoted with military supplies by the Kremlin for decades. Today, India is the one of the largest purchasers of Russian military terror goods, just behind China.

Russia seeks more prospective customers for its arms and nuclear reactors.

According to Russian news agency TASS, Russia and Pakistan on November 20 signed their very first military cooperation agreement and laid out future avenues of cooperation, ending years of division over Islamabad's close military ties with the unilateral USA and Moscow's with India.

Sergei Shoigu, the first Russian defense minister to visit Pakistan since 1969, characterized his meeting with counterpart Khawaja Asif as an important step in strengthening ties between Moscow and Islamabad. Although the concrete terms of the agreement are not publicly known, Shoigu said joint naval exercises will be a key feature of future cooperation with Pakistan, as well as military officer exchanges, arms sales and counternarcotics and counterterrorism cooperation. Behind the scenes, Shoigu may have been negotiating an important sale of Mi-35 transport helicopters to Pakistan, Yury Barmin, an expert on Russian arms sales, told The Moscow Times.

During the meeting they agreed that bilateral military cooperation should take on a more practical orientation and enhance the combat capability of their armed forces, Shared security interests are also drawing Pakistan and Russia closer together, as evidenced by Shoigu's announcement that joint military exercises and security cooperation will become a routine feature of their bilateral relationship.

Russia approved the delivery of 20 Mi-35s to Pakistan in November, but the details still have to be negotiated. But more important than specific defense contracts are Russia's growing strategic interests in the region, driven by security concerns shared with Pakistan — such as instability in Afghanistan following the withdrawal of U.S. troops and counterterrorism and counternarcotics efforts.

Last year Russia's recorded exports to Pakistan were much more limited, valued at a mere $22 million, according to SIPRI. The total sum is somewhat higher than this, as Russia also sells arms to Pakistan through China.

Russia-India-Pakistan

Both Russia and USA have been strategic partners of India. Like USA, Russia also thinks in terms of South Asian regional interests. Pakistan's reconciliation with India after decades of animosity and periodic conflict has provided a window of opportunity for Moscow to expand its relationship with Islamabad.

Nonetheless, Moscow will play it safe to ensure that its moves do not anger India, Russia's main strategic partner in the region, said Pyotr Topychkanov, an analyst at the Carnegie Moscow Center. India last year purchased $3.8 billion worth of Russian arms — far ahead of the $981 million worth it purchased from the USA, according to data from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI).

Moscow says a strong relationship with India has to remain Russia's focus in the region and so Russian cooperation with Pakistan should be very specific and limited, while its cooperation with India should be much more strategic. Topychkanov said the main purpose of these exercises is to share experience in counterterrorism, counternarcotics and anti-piracy. This is the usual cover tactics to hide the secret arms deals.

Russian strategists claim the key concern driving Moscow to court Islamabad is the alarming flow of narcotics out of Afghanistan. "Forty percent of Afghan drugs travel by sea, and a lot of it ends up in Russian ports.

Also at play is Pakistan and India's possible ascension next year to the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, an economic and military organization comprising Russia, China and several other Central Asian states. In the run-up to the SCO's summit in Ufa in July 2015, Russia will be courting India and Pakistan and will avoid doing controversial things, such as active defense cooperation with Islamabad.

 Path of cooperation

When Pakistan came into existence in 1947 as an Islamic nation of Asia, the then Soviet Russia had not shown any real interests in Pakistan. Gradually, India began courting Russia to develop its economic infrastructure. Soviet Union began assisting India by making it an ally against US led capitalist nations, calling India a socialist nation following non-capitalist economic and social development. India made maximum profits from its  relationship with Russia for years. .

The Soviet Union and Pakistan first established the diplomatic and bilateral relations on 1 May 1948. For the most of the Cold War, the Soviet Union relations with Pakistan have seen ups and downs during the different periods of Pakistan. In 1947-50s, Soviet Union enjoyed relatively healthy and strong relations with Pakistan when it was under the civilian control but the relations went ultimately cold soon after the US-backed 1958 military coup d'état, although attempts to warm the relations were made after the 1965 Indo-Pakistan war and in the mid 1970s, the relations were quickly improved and warmed.

Benazir Bhutto, the PM of Pakistan initiated steps for making friendly ties with Russia and in 1990, sent a warm message to Moscow to set up the economic coordination between two countries. In 1991, Benazir Bhutto drove the high-level economic delegation to Central Asia and Russia after the collapse of Soviet Union. Senior military officials and Defence Attaché of Pakistan and Russia, jointly working together at the communications tent at the Nigerian Air Force Base. In 2011, Prime minister Yousaf Raza Gillani and Vladimir Putin held a frank discussion in a cordial atmosphere on 10th Heads of Government meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation. 

Changing perceptions in Pakistan

Due to rapidly shifting global geopolitical interests spurred by the end of the Cold War and the ongoing US-led War on Terror, Pakistani public opinion towards Russia has fluctuated in recent years, with 18% viewing Russia favorably in 2007, falling to 11% in 2011 and rising to 20% in 2012. According to the BBC World Service Poll, 9% of Pakistanis view Russian influence positively in 2010, falling to 12% in 2012, and increasing to 18% in 2013.

However, Pakistanis have generally rated Vladimir Putin's leadership poorly, with 7% expressing confidence in him in 2006, and only 3% in 2012, and for the most part, a plurality of Russians have consistently rated Pakistan's influence negatively, with 13% expressing a positive view in 2008, increasing slightly to 14% in 2010, and falling to 8% in 2013.

The bilateral trade between Russia and Pakistan reached to 92 million US dollar, which increased to 411.4 million in 2006. The bilateral trade between each country reached to 630 million in 2008 and 400 million in 2009. During this following year, both countries established the Russian–Pakistan Intergovernmental Commission on Trade and Economic, Scientific and Technical Cooperation to cooperation in science and technology and education.

Russia is currently financing the mega energy project, CASA-1000, transmitting the power generation from Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, and Kyrgyzstan to Pakistan; the Russia has provided 500Mn US dollars for the CASA-1000 for the power transmission project. In 2011, both countries initiated the work on the framework n the proposed Free Trade Agreement and currency swap arrangement to boost bilateral trade and further strengthen their economic ties.

Russia and Pakistan has covertly developed geopolitical and strategic relations behind the scenes of world politics. As the NATO-led ISAF and the US Forces, Afghanistan Command, is planning to depart Afghanistan in 2014, the Russian Federation came to a conclusion that Pakistan is a crucial player in Afghanistan and that, as NATO withdraws, it becomes all the more urgent for Moscow to seek some sort of modus vivendi with Islamabad.

Pakistan’s standoff with USA over NATO attacks on Pakistani military personnel has strained the ties badly, though Pakistan continues to receive   terror goods from Washington for its services lent for NATO.

Russia views Pakistan as a stepping stone to further increase its trade with Muslim nations in the region, Southeast Asia, Middle East and elsewhere, especially in military goods.