Doing business with Russia

Especially military cooperation

The ‘milestone’ military cooperation pact signed with Russia signals the maturing of a very important relationship at a very crucial time. Traditionally India’s largest arms supplier, Russia has been moving close to Pakistan for some months now. In June, Moscow lifted its arms embargo on Pakistan, and there has been repeated talk of importing military hardware, especially Hind helicopters that can prove very useful in Pakistan’s war against terrorism. Interestingly, this embrace comes at a time when the Americans are drawing down from Afghanistan and Moscow, painfully aware of Pakistan’s reach, seems anxious to plug the right security holes. With a coordinated Pak-Russian-Chinese policy, handling the Afghan fallout, and internal militancy in all countries, will become that much more manageable.

There are also important international connotations to such alliances. Russia is once again emerging as a serious global player, but the rise is not without complications. There is a new Cold War of sorts between Moscow and US-EU, which has intensified over the Ukraine crisis, but was building in the wake of the Arab Spring, where Islamabad continues to have influence of its own. It’s when the Spring reached Syria, and the Americans sided with the position of their GCC and Turkish allies, that Russia (along with China and Iran) defended the Assad regime, eventually propping up the most significant bulwark against spreading al Qaeda and IS barbarity. While Pakistan remains close to the Saudis and the Americans, its closeness to an emerging global axis of significance, which is closer to its geographical sphere of influence, is important. It not only opens up new political and business options, but also positions Islamabad as a possible broker between opposing power axes.

Firstly, though, the interaction should be used to increase bilateral trade, as is the norm in the new world. Current annual trade of $542 million is unsatisfactory. True, military technology will take precedence. Russia can serve as a welcome addition to our hardware source, which currently is principally American. US systems are extremely expensive, and procedures unnecessarily complicated and lengthy. The Russian option is without such hurdles. And following military exchanges, there should be more diverse trade, particularly in the field of energy.