Russia and Pakistan getting closer to a united front on Afghanistan

[AZADPAKISTAN2009]

ISLAMABAD:

A top Russian military commander paid a rare visit to Pakistan in a latest sign of growing ties between the bitter cold-war rivals.

The visit by Russian Ground Forces Commander-in-Chief Colonel General Alexander Postnikov was the first by any senior military official from Russia in recent years.

General Postnikov met Chief of Army Staff General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani on Tuesday at the General Headquarters (GHQ) in Rawalpindi. He also separately met Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff General Khalid Shameem Wynne.

The significance of the visit can be judged from the fact that the Russian general was given a guard of honor and full protocol upon his arrival at the GHQ, said a Pakistani military official.

“This kind of warm reception is given only to the dignitaries from friendly countries,” he added.

A brief statement issued by the Inter-Services Public Relations said that the two generals discussed matters of professional interest. However, official sources say that regional security situation following the death of al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden was the key topic of discussion.

The focus of their discussion was the Afghan endgame and how Pakistan and Russia can contribute to the stability of the war-ravaged country, the sources added.

“Pakistan and Russia certainly can work together with Afghanistan through trilateral and quadrilateral forums,” remarked a foreign office official.

The visit comes as Pakistan’s relations with the US have been severely strained by the killing of Bin Laden.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 25th, 2011.

 

[AAtish]

Thats a good sign.. It seems that the Asian block is getting stronger by putting its differences back..

That is also a positive sign that Pakistan might be getting a permanent membership in a highly sought after SCO..

 

[roadrunner]

it does seem pakistan will get SCO membership in the near future.

which will benefit asia as a whole to have local allies.

 

[SekrutYakhni]

it does seem pakistan will get SCO membership in the near future.

which will benefit asia as a whole to have local allies.

Putin will announce something significant soon.

 

[Time Assassin]

Soooooo this whole Russian alliance thing. I reckon it won't last, but i would prefer Russia as an ally than those Americans

 

[NmHqh2JbVo]

G2 doesn't imply in any sense business as usual. The Chinese has been silently sensing: Are Americans with us in our rise to share wealth and prosperity, or are you against us?

Americans are not a must have in an ideal Chinese world. Only Russians can say for themselves.

 

[gaurish]

Soooooo this whole Russian alliance thing. I reckon it won't last, but i would prefer Russia as an ally than those Americans

Well america is or was your vey good friend and ally .... now it may be not or might be not .. china is your friend ... who knows whats in store after 2 decades ... Russia is smart enough i think

 

[AAtish]

Well america is or was your vey good friend and ally .... now it may be not or might be not .. china is your friend ... who knows whats in store after 2 decades ... Russia is smart enough i think

In 4 decades, we have been betrayed by USA numerous times, in 6 decades China has supported us in every possible way (obviously by not giving money to our corrupt leadership is one of them) and has never showed their back to us.. Russia we haven't tested yet, you know better about Russia if they are trust worthy friends or not, we are just going to check it out..

So i would put all my money on our trusted friends (China) in long run, they are investing in infrastructure and other development works, which are more beneficial to us as a nation..

We don't need Russia to be our die-hard friend anyways, China is more than enough.. Russia can be just a friendly country with mutual co-operative relationship IMHO.. thats it..

 

[Last Hope]

As long as India and US is there, things would get more toughter and Russians would drop us themselves/or wont take things too closer.

 

[pmukherjee]

Soooooo this whole Russian alliance thing. I reckon it won't last, but i would prefer Russia as an ally than those Americans

oh yeah? have you consulted zaid hamid? or hamid gul? or any of the top Pakistani generals including Musharraf who made a career out of supporting mujahideen against Russia in Afghanistan or Chechnya? remember, if Russia wants to get closer to Pakistan, it simply means that they do not want trouble from you as Russia is going to be involved in Afghanistan in a very significant way. Nuisance value is all you have. Don't worry, India is already in Afghanistan.

 

[Emmie]

Whenever I come across the name USSR or Russia I always curse General Zia and his junior Hameed Gul.

 

[somebozo]

When Putin signed tghe exec order to continue engine sales to pakistan despite Indian crying..he signaled something coming ahead and willingness to work together.. Russia is not going anywhere in middle east without Pakistan help..war did not make that happen either but instead ended with disintegration of Soviet union. Indian Bollywood mujra is unable to convince arab sheiks either about the one gaint russian bear now in hibernation. With allies like India, Russia feels deeply lost on international diplomacy.

 

[SEAL]

 

[Zeeshan360]

Good that Russians are going at their side .

It will bring USA more closer to us .

BTW Russia is no more a superpower now , even India has greater GDP than Russia now

 

[great]

Actually let Pakistanis have good relationship with Russia. So we can apply pressure through both US and Russia. Congrats Pakistan.