Qazi Mizan: Prime Minister Imran Khan is about to travel to Moscow for a crucial meeting. It comes at a time when the US and Russia have been at odds over Ukraine since the Cold War. If diplomacy fails, the situation might quickly escalate into a confrontation. Europe (US camp) and Eastern Europe (Russian camp) are attempting to stay out of the crossfire. Imran Khan, the Prime Minister of Pakistan, will travel to Russia at an inopportune time.

The visit will be closely watched by the outside world particularly the US given the current crisis over Ukraine. India will certainly be following the PM visit too since New Delhi has a long-term strategic partnership with Moscow. But in recent years as India inched closer to the US, Russia has also made moves to improve ties with Pakistan.

While India joined the US camp to strengthen itself and make strong to match with the mammoth and gigantic China’s people’s liberation army (PLA), then Pakistan appears to have slipped closer to the Russian Federation in order to “balance” the South Asian power game.

A delegation from Moscow was in Islamabad recently to negotiate toll-free proceedings and tax exemptions in connection with the Pakistan Gas Stream Project. The Pakistani leadership wants to sign a commercial agreement with Russia during PM Imran’s visit. Another project which is likely to be on the agenda is the gas pipeline from Kazakhstan.

One of the proposals was to mend ties with Russia with whom Pakistan did not have good ties because of cold-war rivalries. Russia too was keen to bury the past and explore options given the fact that its long-term ally India was tilting ever closer to the US. In fact the process made significant headway as in 2012 Russian President Vladimir Putin agreed to travel to Islamabad but the trip could not go ahead because of the domestic political situation in Pakistan.

Nevertheless, the process of rapprochement continued and the two sides quietly worked to deepen their cooperation. In 2016, Russia sent a contingent of its troops for the first time in the history to conduct joint military drills with the Pakistani army. Russia ignored Indian advice after New Delhi persuaded Moscow not to go ahead with the joint military drills with Pakistan after an attack on its military base in the disputed Kashmir region. Since then joint military exercises have been the regular feature between the two countries.

Also the two countries have covered significant ground on Afghanistan. During the ‘Afghan Jihad’ both countries were in the opposite camps but now they share the same view on the way forward for the war-torn country. The reason Pakistan and Russia have convergence on Afghanistan is that they know instability in Afghanistan would lead to the rise of terrorist groups, something that would be a threat for both the countries as well as for the region.

Political equations shift with the shifting political landscape and global needs, but the “balance” is maintained in some way. Equations, as well as alignments and realignments, fluctuate according to a country’s primary goals.

Therefore, the PM Khan’s upcoming visit is part of the ongoing efforts by the two sides to bury their bitter past and enter into a new era of cooperation. Pakistan expects President Putin to pay a return visit to Islamabad sometime this year. If that happens, it will culminate the years of overt and covert efforts by the two countries seeking complete transformation in their relationship from being bitter cold-war rivals to strategic partners.