ISLAMABAD – Pakistan and Russia signed an agreement earlier this week,which enables Pakistani military officers to receive training in Russianmilitary institutes.
The deal underscores Pakistan’s efforts to seek new allies as its relationswith the United States strain. The United States has not only suspended itssecurity assistance to the country but has also suspended trainingfacilities for Pakistani military officers.
“Russia is trying to exert their authority and their presence, theirinfluence across the region,” said Gen Joseph L. Votel, Commander of USCentral Command (CENTCOM), when asked to comment on growing military tiesbetween Pakistan and Russia.
“I think they’d look for areas where they can do that. And so, we see themin different places across the region,” Gen Votel told journalists at aPentagon news briefing earlier this week.
Describing these as “destabilising activities,” Gen Votel said that suchdevelopments concerned him directly because as the CENTCOM chief, he wasresponsible for the greater Middle East region, which includes bothPakistan and Afghanistan.
“So, it’s an aspect of CENTCOM. And frankly, as many of you know and you’veall looked at the National Defence Strategy, it’s an aspect of great powercompetition that plays out right here in the CENTCOM area ofresponsibility,” he said.
The US media noted that the agreement to train Pakistani military officersin Russia was reached during Russian Deputy Defence Minister AleksandrFomin’s two-day visit to Pakistan this week, and was also discussed duringa meeting of Russia’s and Pakistan’s top military brass in Moscow on August9.
Reports in the US media also pointed out that Pakistan followed a Westernmilitary doctrine, received its equipment from the West and depended onresupplies from it to keep its major weapons, such as F-16 aircraft,running. So, it will not be easy for Pakistan to completely break up fromthe West and follow the Russian model.
But the Montreal-based Centre for Research on Globalisation argued in arecent report that Russia and Pakistan were “on the right track” and were“moving closer to clinching a long-awaited strategic partnership”.
In a recent statement emailed to Reuters news agency, the Russian ForeignMinistry said Moscow and Islamabad had been developing cooperation foryears, but that the relationship was entering a new qualitative phase.
“One of the key areas of cooperation is the fight against terrorism. Russiawill continue its practical assistance in bolstering Pakistan’scounter-terrorism capabilities, including by supplying military equipment,”the ministry said.