Pakistan signed a landmark agreement for military cooperation with Russia on Thursday during a visit by Russian Defence Minister Sergey Shoygu. General Shoygu met Defence Minister Khwaja Asif and Prime Minister (PM) Nawaz Sharif during his one-day visit and both sides noted the need for Pakistan and Russia to expand their bilateral relationship, given the vast potential in not only defence cooperation, but also trade and security. The PM welcomed Russian support for Pakistani membership in the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation and said Pakistan is “keen to enhance its multidimensional relations with Moscow”. Khwaja Asif pointed to terrorism, drug trafficking and arms control as overlapping areas of interest between Pakistan and Russia. Russia has approved the sale of 20 MI-35 attack helicopters to Pakistan over objections by India, which is one of its largest arms customers. General Shoygu added that the world “wants to do business with Pakistan now”. Russian interest in Pakistan is not new but it has never been reciprocated. The Soviet Union was closer to India despite the latter’s non-aligned position during the Cold War, while Pakistan was part of two US-led anti-communist alliances. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, expanding ties with Russia was simply not a priority though Russia’s remained one of the world’s leading powers. Recently this has changed with India increasingly looking to the west to meet its defence needs. Before arriving in Pakistan General Shoygu visited China where he said that Russia and China were looking to form a collective security system in the Asia-Pacific region. Strengthening regional and pan-Asian ties to combat terrorism and develop the infrastructure for trade has been a focus of Nawaz Sharif’s government. China and Russia have mended fences and the pan-Asian trade corridor is becoming a reality, so the scope for cooperation has increased. Pakistan’s US-centric diplomacy for most of its history has never truly been questioned, although the drawbacks of the relationship and the limitations it imposed on Pakistani diplomacy were always obvious. With the US relationship arguably troubled and NATO departing the region this year, it has finally dawned on policy makers that diversifying relationships and developing alternate sources for arms and technical expertise is in Pakistan’s interests. The foreign office on Thursday belatedly observed that Russia is a “very important global player”, showing how little attention the relationship has received over the years. This has been to Pakistan’s detriment. Russia is a society with high levels of human capital and Pakistan could benefit from collaboration in areas like education, technical and scientific research and oil and gas exploration. Given these factors, reaching out to Russia is a welcome development. Building better relationships with more countries should follow.*