Russia, Pakistan pledge to combat terrorism
Russia and Pakistan on Thursday pledged to boost economic ties and coordinate efforts to fight terror as the Kremlin welcomed the Pakistani president for a key visit after the killing of Osama bin Laden.
Asif Ali Zardari was making the first official visit by a Pakistani leader since the fall of the Soviet Union.
"We are interested in coordinating our efforts on the international arena. It is obvious that our countries are facing absolutely the same threat, I mean international terrorism," Russian President Dmitry Medvedev told Zardari at the Kremlin.
"We have to do everything so that we could jointly counter this main evil of the 21st century," Medvedev said in comments released by the Kremlin.
Russia has for years been struggling to root out a Muslim insurgency in the North Caucasus following two wars with separatists in Chechnya after the fall of the Soviet Union. The Kremlin says Caucasus militants receive support from abroad.
Zardari, who kicked off his three-day trip to Russia on Wednesday, expressed hope his historic visit would help deepen ties between the two countries which share a complicated history.
"Our countries are very close neighbours. We are located in the same region. And although we do not share borders our hearts beat in unison," Zardari said.
"The time has come to acknowledge the importance of our countries for each other and the importance of regional cooperation and to also ramp up economic and political joint work," he said.
Zardari's father-in-law, late prime minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, was the country's last leader to make an official visit to Russia when he travelled here in Soviet times, the Pakistani president said.
The two leaders oversaw the signing of several framework agreements on cooperation including in energy and agriculture and adopted a joint declaration highlighting the importance of tighter economic cooperation.
"Projects of regional development can secure prosperity for all the peoples in the region," said the declaration, adding it supported Russian companies willing to pursue economic, infrastructure and banking projects in Pakistan.
Those projects would include plans by gas giant Gazprom to develop gas fields in Pakistan, the declaration said, while Tyazhpromexport, part of state conglomerate Russian Technologies, would help modernise a metals plant in Karachi.
Vedomosti business daily, citing a source close to the management of Russian Technologies, said on Wednesday that the two countries were expected to agree on a $540 million deal for Pakistan to upgrade the Soviet-built Karachi-based Pakistan Steel.
A Kremlin spokesman could not say Thursday whether the loan was discussed during the talks.
The Kremlin also said Zardari supported a plan for Russia to join a project to build a gas pipeline from Turkmenistan to Pakistan and India via Afghanistan.
The Russian trip is Zardari's first high-profile visit abroad since Al-Qaeda chief bin Laden, leader, the world's most wanted man, was killed in a raid by US forces on a compound in Abbottabad in Pakistan.
The Kremlin hailed the death of bin Laden as a "serious success... in the war against international terrorism" but Pakistan has expressed fury that US forces carried out the raid without informing Islamabad first.
Moscow suggested Washington had the right to kill bin Laden in Pakistan, saying the UN Security Council recognised the right to self-defence.
Moscow is not usually seen as an ally of Islamabad, not least because of its historically close ties to Pakistan's traditional foe India.
Russian-Pakistani relations, historically somewhat frosty, have recently improved. Little wonder then, that Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardaris visit to Moscow has attracted so much media attention. He met with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev twice during a four-party summit also attended by the presidents of Afghanistan and Tajikistan. The intrigue surrounding his current Moscow meeting lies in the crisis in relations between Pakistan and its main patron, the United States.
When al Qaeda chief Osama bin Ladens hideout was located 800 yards away from Pakistans Military Academy, Washington accused the country of double dealing. Pakistans leaders refuted the accusation, responding that U.S. Special Forces had conducted operations in their country without even notifying them.
Pakistan itself is mired in political crisis and mutual trust, which was already running low, has been dealt a heavy blow.
Moscows interest in Pakistan has a certain logic to it, as the situation around Afghanistan, which determines the atmosphere in Central Asia, is becoming increasingly unpredictable. U.S. strategy there is vague, the situation inside Afghanistan is unstable, and the possibility of coordinating efforts with neighboring states remains unclear.
The killing of the worlds most wanted man has only deepened uncertainty in the region. President Barack Obama now has a solid reason for pulling U.S. troops out, as the mission set a decade ago has been accomplished. But even if the pullout decision is taken (not everyone in Washington supports it), the United States will need Pakistans assistance to maintain control in Afghanistan, something that now looks increasingly unlikely.
Afghanistans position is also shrouded in ambiguity. Afghan President Hamid Karzai has repeatedly said that Afghans must assume responsibility. After the operation in Abbottabad, 75 miles from Pakistan's capital Islamabad, he said it is no longer Afghanistan that is at the epicenter of the threat.
But these are politically motivated statements. From a security standpoint, no one is confident that the Afghan authorities are capable of maintaining law and order without NATO and U.S. assistance. Afghans dont want to see a repetition of what happened in 1992-1996, when the Soviet departure and the removal of the pro-Moscow Najibullah government left the country at the mercy of the Taliban. It became the scene of a bloody war in which everyone, including Pakistan, had some involvement.
To Afghans, this is a worse option than continued occupation. This is why the idea of maintaining a reduced U.S. troop presence in Afghanistan, as Washington is considering, has engendered both disappointment and a sense of relief in the country.
Neighboring countries dont want U.S. bases permanently deployed in Afghanistan. Russia, China, India and Iran have all supported a vague regional solution, advocating a reliance on Kabul rather than on Western troops.
Zardaris Moscow trip, made immediately after the strategic China-Pakistan consultations in late April and Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechis visit to Moscow last week, is expected to boost the discussions.
One of Moscows ideas for a regional solution involves an enhanced role for the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), the most representative organization in the region. During the upcoming SCO summit in Astana in June 2011, SCO states are expected to lift the unofficial moratorium on the admission of new members that was imposed in 2006. India and Pakistan are the most likely candidates. The group has refused to consider Irans admission request because the country is shackled by international sanctions.
The possible admission of India and Pakistan is a delicate issue because of their tense bilateral relations. Russia would like to see India become a full member, while China prefers Pakistan. However, Moscow will only agree to that if India is also admitted.
The Afghan question is perceived as something that has the potential to unite the SCO member states. The interests of India and Pakistan in the region are unlikely to coincide, but a multilateral format could ease their bilateral tensions by introducing external factors. Besides, if relations between Pakistan and the United States continue to deteriorate, Islamabad could be forced to be more active in diversifying its contacts.
The interests of the army, religious and ethnic groups, and political leaders are all different pieces in one puzzle. They can fit together only if all sides join forces to create a sense of balance in Pakistan. But ever more people in Washington are urging that more pressure be put on Islamabad to force it to up the ante in its fight against the radicals.
The United States has good reason to mistrust its Asian partner. At the same time, their policy toward Pakistan since fall 2001, when former Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage said the United States would bomb Pakistan back to the stone ages unless it joined the fight against al Qaeda, has only served to undermine traditional ties and deepen instability in Pakistan.
The Pakistani leaderships efforts to reduce external pressure by diversifying its international contacts have provoked ire in Washington. At the same time, the United States has not offered it any other option and so Pakistan needs a fundamentally new paradigm to help it escape from this vicious circle.
New Recruit
