MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 07th September, 2021) The progress of Pakistan-Russia relations in recent years has been "enormous," bringing about opportunities for robust military cooperation based on mutual understanding, Pakistani Ambassador to Russia Shafqat Ali Khan told Sputnik in an interview.
What Islamabad values the most in its foreign relations is trust, and trust has been achieved in its relations with Moscow, the ambassador said.
"The dialogue is deepening and broadening. There's a broad, deep dialogue at multiple levels on multiple issues. There's a solid architecture of cooperation," Khan said.
Citing the 2014 defense cooperation agreement, he said that the armed forces of Pakistan and Russia grew to "understand each other" and are currently engaged in "various interactions."
"Our officers have started for the first time in recent years formal training in the Russian military institutions. This year, we will have the sixth round of our bilateral military exercises � counterterrorism exercises Druzba � in Russia. And you must have noticed in St. Petersburg [that] Pakistan's naval ship was there. So these are all positive signs," Khan said.
Not sharing any details, the ambassador said that the current scope of bilateral military cooperation "provides us the kind of a framework within which we can be discussing various procurement ideas."
When asked about whether Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi plans to visit Russia in the near future, the ambassador said that there was no exact date for the trip yet.
"But we know, I mean, the kind of relations [that] we have, the visits can be arranged when required rather quickly. It's not a problem. And if the need arises, he will shortly be traveling to Moscow. But right now, other channels are working efficiently," Khan said.
Despite the epidemiological situation, the countries have a very robust interaction, the diplomat said. The foreign ministers, as well as the countries' leaders regularly speak over the phone to discuss recent developments.
The last time Qureshi visited Moscow in September 2020, while Russian Foreign Minister traveled to Islamabad this April.
