MOSCOW – Pakistan Defence Minister Khurram Dastgir Khan confirmedto Sputnik that Pakistan and Russia may reach an agreement on Islamabadpurchasing Russian Su-35 jets “in the next few years,” the talks on theissue are in their early stages,Khan told Sputnik.
“Concerning fighter aircraft Su-35: may be in the next few years we will beable to reach that point, we are in the beginning of negotiations now,” theminister said answering a corresponding question.
Pakistan was in talks with Moscow on the issue of purchasing air defensesystems, adding that Pakistan was interested in such weapons.
“Air defense system is a different kind of weapon we are interested. We arevery much interested in a very wide range of the Russian weaponstechnology. We are in negotiations [on air defense systems] and once weconclude negotiations, we will be able to announce them,” Khan said in aninterview.
Pakistan is interested in acquiring Russian T-90 tanks as a long-termcommitment instead of a single purchase, Pakistani Defense Minister KhurramDastgir Khan told Sputnik in an interview on Thursday.
“We are interested in tanks T-90 and it is not going to be a one-timepurchase but it is going to be a long-term commitment,” Khan said.
*Situation in Afghanistan*
Both Islamabad and Moscow are interested in a stable and democraticAfghanistan as it will positively contribute to security in Central Asia,the minister said.
“We respect Afghanistan’s sovereignty. Stability in Afghanistan isimportant for Pakistan to be able to develop its own prosperous future,to access to the Russian market, for example, by land route. Democratic andstable Afghanistan is in deep the interest of both Russia and Pakistan,”Khan said.
Pakistan supports Russia’s efforts to bring stability and peace to theregion and called on other regional and global powers to jointly devise aplan to end violence and defeat terrorism in Afghanistan, according to theofficial.
“We are supporting the Russian regional approach to Afghanistan and we hopethat not only Russia but also China, Iran and of course the United Statescan sit together at the table and devise a way in which we can achieveinternal peace and reconciliation within Afghanistan,” he added.
The minister also praised a new approach by the Afghan leadership when itcomes to ending the prolonged conflict in the country.
“One positive step that has happened recently is a genuine approachby President [Ashraf] Ghani when he had said that he no longer wants to winthe war, but to end the conflict. To win the war was militarist Americanapproach but now the Afghan approach is closer to Pakistan’s positionon the matter. Pakistan’s highest priority regarding Afghanistan is to havea peaceful democratic stable neighbor,” Khan underlined.
Afghanistan has long been suffering from political, social and securityinstability due to the activity of the Taliban radical movement and theDaesh* terrorist group. To address this issue, Moscow has hosted a numberof conferences to achieve peace in the war-ravaged country.
*Islamabad, Moscow Agreed to Enhance Defense, Intelligence Cooperation*
Islamabad looks forward to expanding defense cooperation with Russia in allareas, including military training, procuring equipment and sharingintelligence, Pakistani Defense Minister Khurram Dastgir Khan told Sputnikin an interview on Thursday.
“In the defense field, we signed a historical unprecedented Pakistan-Russiadefense agreement in 2014. As a result, we have been able to conduct jointexercises, Pakistan has purchased Russian helicopters Mi-35 and now we arelooking at much wider range of defense cooperation. In terms of training,Pakistani officers are coming to Russia and Russian officers are goingto the Pakistani facilities for training. We are also now discussing awider range of military exercises, we are looking at a wider rangeof military equipment and intelligence sharing,” Khan said on the sidelinesof the Moscow Conference on International Security (MCIS).
The official commended the current level of defense industry cooperation,noting that in the future Islamabad hopes to expand the variety of militaryequipment sold by Russia to Pakistan.
“We are looking towards a great future in certain areas, in which Russiahas excellent expertise, such as the tanks and air defense systems,” Khannoted.
Even though Pakistan and Russia had differences in the past on the Afghancrisis, the countries have now achieved mutual understanding on regionaland international issues, according to the minister.
“Of course we have a history of Afghan war in which we have been on theopposite sides but now as a second decade of the 21st century ends, we willbe able to look at world realities with a different eye and I am delightedto say that Pakistan and Russia are largely in agreement on majorinternational issues like Afghanistan, like fighting drug trafficking,situation in the Middle East. We are now looking now at almost all aspectsof defense and there is excellent goodwill between our leadership,” Khanunderlined.
The official went on to say that Islamabad is grateful to Russiafor supporting its accession to the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO).
The SCO is a political, economic and military intergovernmentalorganization founded by China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia andTajikistan. Uzbekistan joined the SCO in 2001, while India and Pakistanbecame members in June 2017.