MOSCOW – Islamabad wanted to further enhance its cooperation with Russiaand strengthen ties in various areas, including counterterrorism, PakistanAmbassador to Russia Qazi Khalilullah has said.
[image: Joint drills between Russia and Pakistan]”Pakistan is fully capable of combating terrorism on its soil. We haveproven this to the world through ‘Zarb-e-Azb’ and ‘Radd-ul Fasaad’operations against terrorists and extremists … Our [operations are] asuccess story. Pakistan has gained a wealth of knowledge and experiencewhile successfully combating and eliminating terrorism. We are willingto share it with others,” the diplomat noted, adding that the countryintended to boost defense industry cooperation with Moscow and was studyingvarious systems of Russian weapons for new purchases.
“Russian weapon systems compete well with the similar systems producedby other countries and are looked at favourably by defence plannersin Pakistan. The Armed Forces of Pakistan are therefore in the processof evaluating various Russian weapon platforms for possible procurement,”the diplomat said.
Khalilullah noted that cooperation between Pakistan and Russia in thedefense sphere had been steadily increasing and was marked by frequenthigh-level contacts.[image: Qazi Khalilullah]
“We wish to further deepen cooperation with Russia in this importantfield,” he concluded.
The envoy continued by saying that Islamabad intended to participate in thenext meetings of the Moscow format dialogue on Afghanistan and in theShanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) joint anti-terror militaryexercises dubbed the Peace Mission-2018, which are due to take placein Russia in September.
“I understand that Peace Mission-2018 is being held within the frameworkof Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO). Pakistan attaches importanceto all SCO activities. We therefore participated in the 1st round of expertstaff talks relating to Peace Mission-2018, held in Ekaterinburgin November 2017, and intend to participate in the exercise this year,”Khalilullah said.
The ambassador added that the defense industry cooperation between Pakistanand Russia had also steadily increased amid frequent high-level contacts.
“Military-technical cooperation between Pakistan and Russia has alsostrengthened over the years. We wish to further deepen cooperationwith Russia in this important field,” the diplomat said.
On Pricing of Russian Gas
The senior official noted that Moscow and Islamabad had not yet agreedon tariffs for the North-South gas pipeline in Pakistan, the sides wereplanning to hold the fifth meeting of the Joint Coordination (JCC)in Moscow in February.
“It is one of the open issues,” the ambassador said, when asked whether thesides agreed on tariffs.
[image: Sections of gas pipes are seen at the start of construction on apipeline to transfer natural gas to Pakistan.]Khalilullah noted that there was “no room for speculation” about theproject’s future, stressing that Russia and Pakistan remained committedto the implementation of the pipeline agreement, though “work remains to bedone on issues that are still open.” He also added that the both sides’commitment was proved by multiple bilateral meetings, including the fifthJCC meeting that was due to take place in February.
“Let me add that there is a Joint Coordination Committee (JCC)for monitoring implementation of the North-South Gas Pipeline Project. Ithas already held four meetings. The 5th meeting is expected to be held soonin Moscow. Both sides will review the status of the project during thatmeeting … Hopefully [the meeting will take place] in February. It wasscheduled to be held in December 2017, but was postponed to the beginningof 2018,” Khalilullah said.
The intergovernmental agreement on the gas pipeline construction was signedby Russia and Pakistan in 2015. The project is implemented by RT-GlobalResources, part of Rostec corporation.