Pakistan, Russia agree to expand defence cooperation

RAWALPINDI (Monitoring Desk): Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Qamar Javed Bajwa and Commander Russian Federation Ground Forces Colonel General Oleg Salyukov have agreed to expand military to military cooperation between the two countries.

Gen Qamar met Col-Gen Salyukov at the Kremlin Palace after arriving in Moscow on Tuesday, said a statement issued by the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR).

Upon arrival, the COAS was presented a guard of honour and national anthems of both countries were played.
The army chief also laid wreath at the tomb of unknown soldiers on the occasion.

The Russian commander acknowledged achievements of Pakistan Army in fight against terrorism and contributions for regional peace and stability.

“Pakistan is a geo-strategically important country and Russia is keen to expand its existing bilateral military to military cooperation,” he was quoted as saying.

General Qamar thanked Col-Gen Salyukov, saying that Pakistan reciprocates desire of enhanced bilateral military engagements.

The COAS said that Russia has recently played a positive role to help resolve complex situations in the region. He said that Pakistan will continue to play its part to keep conflicts away from the region and seek approaches which bring regional convergences into play rather that the divergences.

The army chief’s tour came a day after a high-level inter-ministerial delegation, led by National Security Advisor (NSA) Lt-Gen (retd) Nasser Khan Janjua, visited Moscow on April 22-23.

This was the first-time ever that inter-ministerial level delegations, led by national security advisers of the two countries met each other.