Daily Times

Relations between the states are not dependent upon emotions; instead it is the economic interests which play a pivotal role in international relations in the present era. It was a huge blunder on the part of US president Donald Trump that through his speeches fuelled and ignited nationalistic feelings at the altar of internationalism. Such a stance of an American president has weakened the US position in international politics and in the future there is a likelihood that there will be new alliances and countries like Pakistan will have an opportunity, to forge new partnerships and become a key player in new alliances.

The relations between US and Pakistan have always been topsy-turvy since independence and at present if we examine them that the US is more inclined towards India than Pakistan. At this crucial juncture the scenario is changing with respect to Pakistan-Russia ties. On 25 September both the troops of Russia and Pakistan conducted a joint military drill to counter terrorism. This drill was named ‘Friendship 2017.’

It can be noticed that the ties between Pakistan and Russia improve when the ties between US and Pakistan sour. The closeness of Pakistan towards US since independence has always had adverse impact on the Pakistan and Russian ties, as the government of Pakistan chose to form bonding with US promoting free market economy-capitalism principles. It remains to be seen that how long the tone of current US president remains aggressive towards Pakistan and what kind of spillover effects it will render on Pakistan and Russia relationship. Here two factors will be important: one is to see about how much Pakistan shows consistency in sustaining a good and friendly relationship with Russia; secondly what kind of role can Russia play in creating a balance between India and Pakistan?

The biggest problem of Pakistan’s foreign policy is that Pakistan feels insecure, and the people at the helm of the corridors of power think that without the help or assistance of a superpower the existence of Pakistan is in jeopardy owing to the fact that the relations with India have always been dismal. In Pakistan, foreign policy has always been on the defensive side and therefore could neither experiment much nor explore new dimensions or avenues in foreign policy. The foreign policy of Pakistan has always been a one-sided approach due to its inclinations towards forming defence-related pacts and at present, it has become a security-state. Consequently we witness that after the seventy years of independence instead of making friends, Pakistan has been serving the interests of its foreign masters.

The biggest problem of our foreign policy is that Pakistan feels insecure and the people at the helm of corridors of power think that without help or assistance of a superpower the existence of Pakistan is in jeopardy

In view of the current geo-strategic scenario, Pakistan needs to revise its foreign policy and should look towards Russia without taking an aggressive stance against the US. Similarly, Russia should also move forward and forget about the past enmity it held against Pakistan during the Afghan-Soviet war in the 1980s; nevertheless, the friendly ties of Russia and India will remain a concern for Pakistan.

We should not forget that from 1947 to 1950 and from 1965 to 1969, both the Soviet Union and Pakistan co-operated in different subjects pertaining to education, culture and trade. In 1965 Soviet Union played a crucial role in bringing a ceasefire agreement at Tashkent between India and Pakistan. In the 1970s, the Soviet Union provided assistance to Pakistan in the set-up of steel mill. But subsequently the relationship between Soviet Union and Pakistan backfired when the Soviet Union, in 1971, vetoed a UN resolution in Security Council regarding the intervention of India in East Pakistan, which Pakistan considered a stab in the back. The tension between Russia and Pakistan ignited further when in 1979 Soviet Union sent its troops to Afghanistan and Pakistan with the help of US supported Taliban in the proxy war against Soviet Union. With the passage of time, the Soviet Union realised that the geo-strategic position of Pakistan cannot be undermined. In 2005, the ties between India and US started improving and in 2008 both the US and India formed a nuclear agreement which was a major breakthrough in the relations between the two countries (India and US) since independence. During this period, Russia warned India from becoming an US allay and the relations between US and Pakistan remained volatile though Pakistan become a frontline state in USA’s war against terror. It is hard to ignore that in the past Russia has provided diplomatic support to India on Kashmir issue and has been the biggest supplier of defence equipment to India.

In 2011 US along with NATO forces attacked Pakistan at Salala base, which created a rupture in the relations between the two states and Russian government also condemned the attack subsequently. In 2014 a major breakthrough occurred between Russia and Pakistan when the Russian government removed an embargo on the arm sales to Pakistan. Despite the reservations of India, the Russian government sold four Mi-35M helicopters to Pakistan and agreement regarding sales of fighter jets S-35 is in the pipeline. However if we are thinking that purchase of few planes by Pakistan from Russia and India’s warming upto US will result in deterioration in the ties between Russia and India, then we are living in ‘illusions of grandeur’. The friendly ties of India with Russia took decades to develop and something that took decades to develop cannot be destroyed overnight.

It has become indispensable for Pakistan that rather relying upon superpowers, Pakistan should stand on its feet. Improving ties with Russia can help Pakistan to fulfil its energy needs. At present the European Union has imposed trade sanctions upon Russia and therefore Pakistan has an opportunity to form long-lasting trade relationship with Russia. The recent visit of Chief of Army staff Qamar Bajwa scheduled for Russia is also expected to borne fruitful results in the defense arena and hopefully both the states can also utilise this opportunity to form a counter-terrorism alliance to confront the threat of IS(Islamic State) in Afghanistan. This threat would be counter-productive for both the states lest the presence of IS in Afghanistan can have repercussions due to its deleterious effects in central Asia and Russian territories with Muslim populations.

The writer is a constitutional and Human rights lawyer and a partner at Zaka and Zaka law associates

Published in Daily Times, October 16^th 2017.