Pakistan signs landmark defence deal with Russia, tries to find ‘US alternatives’

Pakistan reportedly signed a landmark defence agreement with Russia on Wednesday. Pakistan will buy four Mi-35 Hind E attack helicopters among other equipment as a part of the deal.

The deal is considered to be a major breakthrough in the relation between the Cold War rivals. Pakistan gets a number of Mi-17 helicopters from the United States to counter terrorism in the country. The Mi-35 is a highly modernised version of the Mi-24 combat helicopter, IANS reported.

Pakistan has faced high-level home-grown terrorism that has killed a number of major political leaders including former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto in 2007. A suicide attack claimed by Lashkar-e-Islam killed one of Pakistan’s provincial ministers and at least eight other people, Reuters reported. The Taliban-linked group said it was retaliation for military operations against them.

According to an article published on the Wall Street Journal, Pakistan is trying to move closer to Russia as the United States seems more inclined to India. Russia and Pakistan are trying to “mend fences” as the U.S. administration views India as a counterweight to a rising China, the newspaper reported.

“Pakistan has decided it is no longer an American client state,” the WSJ quoted Zafar Hilaly, a former senior Pakistani diplomat. “Pakistan has decided that although America will remain important, it must have other alternatives.”

Experts believe it is unlikely for Pakistan to turn its face away from the United States even though it appears to build stronger relations with Russia. America is the biggest supplier of aid and equipment to the Pakistani military.

The WSJ has said China and Russia are concerned about the “export of extremism and instability from Pakistan and Afghanistan.” It says the Chinese and the Russian government may want to protect their southern underbellies by promoting economic development in the Asian countries.

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