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Monday, April 29, 2013
65th anniversary of Pak-Russia ties to be markedBy Amar Guriro
KARACHI: Pakistan and Russia will mark the completion of 65 years of their diplomatic relations on Wednesday, May 1. To celebrate this long term relationship, the Russian Consulate Karachi has arranged a ceremony Tuesday, April 30, said Andrey V Demidov, Consul General of the Russian Federation, Karachi.
In a message on 65th anniversary of bilateral diplomatic relations Demidov said that, “The history of our bilateral political relations saw both - good and not so good. But irrespective of the given state of the then relations both countries always felt the necessity to maintain good contacts.”
Demidov further said, “Pakistan is an important partner for Russia, it plays an important role in international relations. We have to go forward, to advance for the better future of our two countries, of the region, of the world.”
The diplomatic relations of both countries have a long history of historical events. The Soviet Union was the first to welcome the independence of Pakistan and latter helped Pakistan to become a member of the United Nations. In 1966 it was as a result of the good offices of the Soviet diplomacy that the Tashkent Declaration was signed, an agreement that put an end to a war between India and Pakistan of 1965.
In October 1968 the then Pakistani Army Chief General Mohammad Yhaya Khan visited Moscow as a head of a high level delegation. An “informal agreement” was concluded between the two sides for the provision of some weaponry to the Pakistani Army. In 1974 Zulfikar Ali Bhutto visited Moscow. It was not an easy time after Bangladesh became independent. It was not an easy time for both parties. But both Moscow and Islamabad managed to understand each other. This visit contributed positively to further development of our bilateral relations.
Since 2009 we embarked upon a very significant road - annual meetings of the heads of states of Afghanistan, Pakistan, Tajikistan and Russia were held within the framework of the “Dushanbe Four”. These meetings laid foundation to the realisation of the regional model for future settlement in Afghanistan. As a result of these talks the relations between Russia and Pakistan became stronger, said the Consul General.
“What is important is that we can witness serious improvement in contacts between the military of both countries. You know better than I do the role played by the military in Pakistan. In our view those contacts are very important from the point of view of future cooperation in the field of defense,” said Demidov, adding that in October 2012 general Kayani visited Moscow. It was not his first visit. In Moscow he had a meeting with his Russian colleague General Postnikov as well as with the Chief of General Staff general Makarov.
Courtesy www.dailytimes.com.pk