Pakistan seeks to strengthen defence ties with Russia: FO spokesperson

Tasnim Aslam says Pakistan considers ongoing dialogue with Russia as productive

MOSCOW: Pakistan considers the ongoing dialogue with Russia as productive and intend to develop ties in various spheres including defence and energy products, Foreign Office spokesperson Tasnim Aslam told Russian news agency Tass.

“Russia and Pakistan are trying to enhance and develop relations in many areas; Minister of Finance and Economic Affairs Ishaq Dar has recently visited Moscow where a meeting of the inter-governmental working group for energy issues took place. It was very useful,” Aslam said.

She further added that "we received Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu in Pakistan last year; they held fruitful discussions and adopted a set of measures aimed to strengthen defense cooperation. Now, time has come to materialise them in real life."

When she was questioned on whether Pakistan had planned to buy military hardware and weapons from Russia in a sign of developing defence contacts, she said that opportunities to expand and strengthen the existing ties always appeared as relations continue to develop.

“This is equally true of the purchases of military equipment and Russian investments in Pakistan and the development of infrastructure in our country by Russian companies,” she said.



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She used the construction of a steel-making plant in Pakistan in the 1970s as an example of reciprocal cooperation and said that they would want the relations to grow further and develop in more than one sphere.

“We want Russia to participate in the implementation of infrastructure projects; the construction of dams as well as in energy projects. We maintain contacts with many companies, including Gazprom," the spokesperson said.

Aslam said US Secretary of State, John Kerry's recent visit to Islamabad on January 13 was Pakistan's attempt to build bilateral relations with partners in a way that would not harm the interests of other states.

“We believe that countries develop bilateral relations on a mutually beneficial basis. This kind of ties can also have a positive impact on the region and the international situation. Not a single country can have ‘a right of veto’ on development of bilateral relations by other countries. Our aim is to develop independent contacts with all countries. We consider the foreign policy to be a ‘zero sum game’. Pakistan’s relations with the United States can in no way harm Pakistan’s relations with Russia and vice versa,” the Pakistani diplomat said in conclusion.