ISLAMABAD – In the fast changing regional scenario, relations betweenPakistan and Russia have seen an unprecedented improvement over the lastfew years with both the countries holding joint military exercises and alsoexploring ways and means to further enhance their defence and economicrelations.
As the two former cold war rivals celebrate the 70th anniversary of theirdiplomatic relations, Pakistan has expressed desire to take therelationship to next level by offering Moscow a multidimensional strategicpartnership. In a statement on Tuesday, Foreign Office Spokesperson DrMuhammad Faisal said Pakistan believes the long term multidimensionalpartnership between the two countries will be mutually beneficial and wouldcontribute towards regional peace and stability.
In recent times, one has seen an increased frequency of high-level officialmeetings as well as delegation exchanges between the two countries in whichboth sides appeared to be expressing commonality of views on major issuesincluding Afghanistan and the Middle East and vowing to take forward theirrelations on a positive trajectory.
And indeed the offer made by Pakistan for developing strategic ties withMoscow is a positive and significant step that will enable both thecountries to come further close to each other and build a strongpartnership based on shared interests.
Given the recent bonhomie, we have no doubt in saying that Moscow will bewelcoming the offer and we expect that officials of the two countries willsit together at the earliest to frame basic contours of the partnershipthat we understand should envisage cooperation not only in the field ofdefence but also other sectors of the economy including energy, trade,agriculture and industry.
In fact, the construction of infrastructure under China-Pakistan EconomicCorridor project has also opened a window of opportunity for Moscow to useit as an alternative route to access the Middle Eastern countries. It canalso invest in the special economic zones, as these are open for all. Soopportunities for cooperation between the two countries are diverse. Whatrequired is that they maintain the current upward trajectory in relationsthrough high-level interactions.
It will be a historic milestone in relations between the two countries ifRussian President Vladimir Putin also visits Islamabad, which is longoverdue, for signing of the strategic partnership that indeed will givefurther impetus to the relations.