Contemporary Pakistan-Russia Bilateral Relation
Strategic Vision Institute organized an In-House Seminar on “Contemporary Pakistan-Russia Bilateral Relation”, held on May 23, 2014. Deputy Political Counselor, Embassy of Russian Federation, Islamabad, Dr. Andrey N. Shablin graced the seminar with his presence as Guest Speaker. Dr. Zafar Iqbal Cheema chaired the session while Amb. (Retd.) Khalid Khatak and Lt. Gen.(R) Syed Muhammad Owais joined as the Discussants.
Discussion
Mr. Andrey N. Shablin, the Chief Guest of the In-House Seminar, said that Pakistan and Russia has joint political-consultation mechanism on bilateral, regional, and international matters as well as on strategic stability. In order to maintain the spirit of brotherly relations among the two countries, it has been decided to establish Pakistan-Russia Economic Forum. Inter-Governmental Commission (IGC) on trade, economic, scientific and technical cooperation between Russia and Pakistan was created to aid the development of mutual cooperation. Meanwhile, he noted that there are some unresolved financial issues concerning free trade agreement and regularization of Pakistani state debt to Russia. Pakistan and Russia are having some possible Projects like Muzaffargarh Thermal Power Station, Pakistan Steel Mill, and LNG (3.5 million ton LNG per year) etc. He quoted President Vladimir Putin, saying that “Pakistan today is not only an important trade economic partner of Russia, but also most important Russian partner in South Asia and in the Islamic world”. Mr. Shablin said that we can discuss the relations under three main aspects; strategic, defence collaboration, and civil-nuclear cooperation. Talking about civil nuclear technology, he added, it is possible, although CTBT and FMCT are the oppositions, but the important thing is that Pakistan and Russia have better kind of understanding. On Defence collaboration, he added that MI35 are the defensive helicopters and Pakistan is using it in encountering terrorism; Pakistan has made a request to acquire this technology from Russia.
VOTE OF THANKS BY DR. ZAFAR IQBAL CHEEMA
At the end, Dr. Zafar Iqbal Cheema profoundly thanked the entire august audience present in the house and said that their presence is valuable for the events organized by SVI. He paid special thanks to the Guest Speaker and Discussants for their precious inputs that enlightened the audience. He extended his gratitude towards the research and secretarial staff of the SVI for their hard work and dedication towards the SVI.
