pak ussr relation 2001 to 2017

2. 2001
On 19 April 2001, the Russian Deputy Minister of
Foreign Affairs Alexander Losyukov paid a state
visit to Pakistan where both countries agreed upon
cooperating in economic development, and to work
towards peace and prosperity in the region.
In the wake of September 11, 2001 attacks, the
relations were warmed rapidly when Pakistan
denounced the government of Taliban and joined
the NATO coalition to hunt down the Jihadist
organizations and al-Qaeda.

3. 2001
 The decision of Pakistan to join the international
struggle against terrorism has led to Russia-
Pakistan relations being greatly improved.
 Pakistan also decided to grant Russia access to the
Gwadar Port, a warm water sea port as has done to
both Iran and Turkmenistan.

4. 2002
 Russia has urged Pakistan to do what it can to
prevent terrorists crossing into Kashmir.
 During his visit to India in December 2002, Putin
urged the Pakistani leadership to crack down on the
terrorist infrastructure in Jammu and Kashmir.
Russia sees India as a more important partner than
Pakistan.

5. 2002
 After 9/11 Pakistan‟s major policy shift in
abandoning the Taliban and becoming a front line
state in fighting the international „war on terror‟ in
Afghanistan greatly helped in improving its relations
with Russia.

6. CONTI…
 Aziz Ahmed Khan, Additional Secretary, Ministry of
Foreign Affairs, visited Moscow in January 2002 for
consultations on trade, economic and political matters.
 In early 2002, a Russian business delegation visited
Pakistan as a consequence of which the Pakistan-Russia
Business Forum and Pakistan-Russia Business Council
were created targeting a turnover of one billion dollars
worth of trade andinvestments in the coming years

7. 2003
 A major development in bilateral relations was the
visit of President Pervez Musharraf to Russia in
2003.
 Both countries also signed three agreements to
enhance cultural and diplomatic ties and to resolve
visa and immigration bottlenecks.
 As a result of improved relations Russia also
supported Pakistan‟s entry to the SCO as an
Observer.

8. 2004
 Russian Foreign Minister, Igor Ivanov, visited
Pakistan in July 2004. Also, a delegation of Russian
Duma visited Pakistan the same year.
 Russia and Pakistan also see prospects of
collaboration in the fuel and energy sector.

9. 2005
 In 2005, both countries‟ presidents met on the
sidelines of UN General Assembly session and
heads of governments met in Moscow during the
SCO heads of government meeting.

10. 2006
 The high level contacts continued in 2006. Apart
from high level meetings of officials, the two
presidents also met on the sidelines of the SCO
meeting in June 2006 and both heads of
government met on the sidelines of the next SCO
summit in September 2006.

11. IN 2006
 In November 2006, the Russian Foreign Minister
visited Pakistan and held talks with his counterpart,
Khurshid Kasuri on major global issues and
cooperation in many fields including energy,
communications, railways and information
technology.
 During this meeting Russia also showed its keen
interest in participating in construction of Iran-
Pakistan gas pipeline.

12. IN 2007
 In 2007 Russian Prime Minister, Mikhail Fradkov
visited Pakistan (first visit of a Russian Prime
Minister in 38 years) and held in - depth
discussions with President Pervez Musharraf and
Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz.

13. IN 2009
 Pakistan‟s Chief of Army Staff, General Kayani‟s
visit to Moscow in 2009 and subsequent meetings
of former Prime Minister Gilani with the Russian
leaders on the sidelines of SCO Summit in
Dushanbe in 2010 had paved the way for
presidential visits in the ensuing years

14. IN 2011
 In 2011, both countries held talks on the proposed
free trade agreement and currency swap
arrangement to boost bilateral trade and further
strengthen their economic relations
 In 2011, Russia‟s Prime Minister, Vladimir Putin
publicly supported Pakistan‟s desire to attain full
membership of SCO. 40 He further stated that in
South Asia and the Muslim world Pakistan was a
very important partner for Russia

15. 2012
 In this build-up of cordiality the Russian President,
Vladimir Putin, was scheduled to make a landmark
visit to Pakistan in October 2012 but it was
suddenly postponed. It was said by the Russian
authorities that the visit had been temporarily put off
due to technical hitches related to holding of
quadrilateral summit in Pakistan. This explanation
suggested that the cancellation was not a rebuff
and mutual relations would move on.

16. 2012
 Then, Pakistan Chief of Army Staff, General Ashfaq
Pervez Kayani, visited Russia as per his schedule
in the first week of October 2012 and held meetings
with Russian Army top brass and the ruling
politicians on ways to develop defence ties between
the two countries.

17. 2014
 Pakistan and Russia are entering into a new phase
of bilateral cooperation as Moscow announced
lifting of an arms embargo on Pakistan on June 2,
2014 which was imposed during the Soviet era

18. 2015
 Pakistan Army actively participated in Russian Army
War Games 2015 held in Russian Far east.
Pakistan was also among the 6 countries that took
part in Master of The Air Defense Battle
Competition besides Russia, China, Egypt,
Venezuela and Belarus

19. 2016
 The first annual joint exercise between the Russian
military and the Pakistan Army took place under the
name "Friendship 2016". 70 Russians and 130
Pakistanis took part in the exercise, held from 24
September to 10 October 2016, in Cherat, in
Pakistan's north-western Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
Province. India had unsuccessfully asked Russia to
call off the exercise as a gesture of "solidarity"
following the 18 September 2016 militant attack on
an Indian Army base which New Delhi had blamed
on Islamabad. Though Russia did agree to not
participate in exercises in disputed Gilgit-Baltistan
because of Indian sensitivities.

20. 2017
 The Pakistan Army Aviation Corps (PAAC) took
delivery of four Russian-made Mi-35M attack
helicopters, Pakistan’s Defense Export Promotion
Organization (DEPO) confirmed in a statement
issued at this year’s International Military-Technical
Forum (Army 2017), which took place August 22-27
in Moscow, (according to local media reports).

21. PROSPECTS OF DEVELOPING CLOSER
BILATERAL RELATIONS
 Opportunities for Russia in Pakistan
 Russia wants to invest in mega projects in Pakistan like
construction of Iran- Pakistan gas pipeline, expansion of
steel mill at Karachi, improvement of heavy mechanical
complex in Taxilla, expansion of Guddu and Muzaffargarh
power plants, development of Thar coal project, partial
funding of the CASA (Central Asia- South Asia) 1000
electric transmission project57 from Tajikistan and
construction of Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India
(TAPI) gas pipeline.

22. CONTI…
 Russia wants better relations with Pakistan for its
economic interests and securing CARs from
religious extremism in cooperation with Pakistan
and Russia have a huge potential in the field of
trade. Russia can utilize Pakistan’s southern waters
for trade and shipping.
 In the military field also, Russia has offered
counter-terrorism equipment to Pakistan and
cooperation in fighting terrorism and radicalism.

23. 9/11

24. AFTER 9/11
 That scenario however dramatically changed when
in the wake of 9/11 attacks Pakistan reversed its
Taliban policy and became part of the US and
NATO led „war on terror‟ in Afghanistan.
 Russia now sees how central Pakistan is to any
scheme of ending the conflict in Afghanistan and
bringing peace in the region

25. AFTER 9/11
 Especially after the 9/11 incident, the strategic
landscape has changed which has set a strategic
compulsion forcing the countries to revisit their
earlier foreign policies. In this context, Pakistan and
Russia are no exceptions.

26. CPEC

27. RUSSIA’S JOINING OF CPEC TO ENHANCE CHINA,
RUSSIA AND PAKISTAN COOPERATION
 Pakistan has already approved a Russian request
for using the Gwadar Port
 Russia’s participation in the CPEC, including the
use of the Gwadar Port, could give a boost to Sino-
Russian cooperation and be a demonstration
project of OBOR that will enhance future
multinational cooperation, the newspaper argued.

28. CONTI…
 Russia and Pakistan are both friendly toward
China. Pakistan, the now observer of the SCO,
officially submitted its full membership application to
the organization.
 As for Russia-Pakistan relations and Russia’s role
in the CPEC, China is deemed as a stakeholder in
the affairs and has certain influences. But China will
not intervene in Russia-Pakistan relations.

29. CONTI..
 Russia’s involvement in the CPEC is to serve its
own interests in economy and geopolitics, which
may complicate regional affairs.
 If Russia joins the project, it will be a stakeholder
which shares economic risk, especially security
risk, and has the same or similar goals