Pak army chief meet top Russian commander

Pakistan Army Chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa today met with Russian Army Commander-in-Chief Colonel General Oleg Salyukov and discussed security and defence related issues.

Colonel General Salyukov said Pakistan is a geo-strategically important country and Russia is keen to expand its existing bilateral military-to-military cooperation, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the Pakistan Army's media arm, said in a statement.

Gen Bajwa, who is in Russia on an official visit, thanked him and said that Pakistan "reciprocates desire of enhanced bilateral military engagements", the statement said.

The Russian commander acknowledged achievements of Pakistan Army in fight against terrorism and contributions for regional peace and stability, the ISPR said.

Gen Bajwa said that Russia has recently played a positive role to help resolve complex situations in the region. He also said that Pakistan will continue to play its part to keep conflicts away from the region and seek approaches which bring regional convergences into play rather that the divergences.

Earlier, Gen Bajwa was accorded a guard-of-honour upon his arrival at the Kremlin Palace where he met the Russian commander.

His visit came a day after a high-level inter-ministerial delegation, led by National Security Advisor Lt-Gen (retd) Nasser Khan Janjua, visited Moscow on April 22-23 and held talks on defence related issues.

Pakistan's ties with Russia have moved past the bitter Cold War hostilities in recent years and the chill in the relations between Pakistan and the US, especially after President Donald Trump warned Islamabad for providing safe havens to terrorists, has further pushed the country towards Russia and China.

In 2016, Russia held its first-ever military exercises with Pakistan and also started selling weapons to Islamabad.