Diplomatic shift: Army chief to visit Moscow next month

FO says army chief’s visit will help strengthen defence cooperation

ISLAMABAD: Army chief Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa is set to travel to Moscow in the first week of October in a visit that would be watched closely as Trump administration’s new Afghan strategy pushed Pakistan to seek greater cooperation with Russia.

Foreign Office spokesperson Nafees Zakaria told reporters at his weekly briefing on Thursday that the army chief’s visit to Moscow would “contribute towards strengthening defence cooperation between the two countries”.

“Regular high-level exchanges between the two sides in the past few years have set the stage for translating political goodwill into a substantial partnership, in the field of defence in particular,” Zakaria.

Relations between Pakistan and Russia have seen an unprecedented improvement during the last few years. The two countries, which remained bitter Cold War rivals, have been recalibrating their ties against the backdrop of realignments.



With India, Russia’s longstanding strategic partner, joining the US camp, Moscow is opening its options that include reaching out to countries such as Pakistan, which has been looking to diversify its foreign policy options in view of the changing scenario.

Russia was one of the first countries, which publically expressed its solidarity with Pakistan after President Donald Trump unveiled a new strategy for Afghanistan and South Asia.

Trump accused Pakistan of supporting and harbouring the Afghan Taliban and the Haqqani Network. He threatened Pakistan with ‘consequences’ if it did not chance its approach.

Russia along with China, however, came to Pakistan’s help by suggesting that shifting the blame on Pakistan would destabilise the region and would have negative impact on the Afghan security.



Foreign Office officials revealed that Russia issued a statement on Pakistan’s request in order to offset the negative fallout of Trump’s new Afghan roadmap.

Although, the Foreign Office said visit of the army chief would strengthen defence ties, the main purpose of his visit is to discuss the current regional security situation, with special focus on Afghanistan.

Pakistan has been pushing for a regional consensus on Afghanistan. Russia, China and Iran have endorsed Pakistan’s stance that use of force will not resolve the lingering conflict in the war-ravaged country.

All regional players believe the only way out to achieve elusive peace in the country can come through an Afghan-led and Afghan-owned peace process.



The Foreign Office spokesperson said regional countries were concerned about the rise of Da’ish and other terrorist elements within Afghanistan.

“Pakistan believes that all initiatives for bringing peace and stability in Afghanistan should be Afghan-owned and Afghan-led,” Zakaria emphasised.

He drew the attention towards recent visit of Foreign Minister Khawja Asif to regional countries, wherein there was a convergence of interests on the security situation in the region, including Afghanistan.

Meanwhile, the spokesperson expressed his disquiet over the India-Japan joint statement issued at the conclusion of the visit of Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to India in which an unwarranted reference on Pakistan had been included.



He said, “Unfortunately, Japan’s subscribing to the statement was uncalled-for. Moreover, India is a country that has a known track record of perpetrating blatant human rights violations in Indian Occupied Kashmir and involvement in state-sponsored terrorism in its neighbourhood.

“Given the fact, backed by solid evidence that Indian state agencies, in collaboration with their terrorist organisation, RSS, have staged numerous terrorist attacks on its own soil and blamed them either on Indian Muslims or alleged non-state actor(s) in Pakistan, Japan’s endorsement of Indian viewpoint is highly regrettable.

“Compromising principles of inter-state relations and fair play for the sake of economic considerations in any situation is regrettable.”