Pakistan backstabbing Russia
Desperate for oil, Pakistan hosted the eighth session of the Pakistan-Russia Intergovernmental Commission on Trade and Economic, Scientific and Technical Cooperation on 20 Jan.
It was held in Islamabad to take further and “operationalise” the deal for purchasing oil from Russia by the March end.
The session was co-headed by Pakistan Minister for Economic Affairs Sardar, Ayaz Sadig, and Russia’s Energy Minister Nikolay Shulginov, accompanied by an 80-member delegation including members from the business community of Russia. The joint statement from both governments said that they agreed to work on a ‘Comprehensive Plan for Energy Cooperation’ which would be finalised this year.
Both Pakistan and Russia also signed an agreement on customs matters, a protocol on the exchange of documents and data on the customs value of goods transported between the countries, and a working agreement on aeronautical products. They also agreed to share information towards developing and improving rail and road infrastructure while nominating focal persons from both sides to discuss issues concerning connectivity and logistics in Central and South Asia.
However Pakistan as usual is playing a double game. On one hand it is making efforts to buy oil from Russia at discounted rates to support its sinking economy, while backstabbing Moscow by covertly supplying domestically produced armaments to Ukraine that are responsible for the deaths of Russian civilians and army personnel, reported Geo Politik.
The report by Geo Politik, says that Pakistan is also making money by supplying ammunition to Ukraine and other countries surrounding Russia via a company named Kestral. Notably, the CEO of Kestral, Liaqat Ali Beg, travelled to Poland, Romania, and Slovakia in May and June 2022.
Islamabad was supposedly part of an air bridge for supplying weapons to Ukraine. It apparently uses defence suppliers and contractors operating in foreign countries to channel these shipments to Ukraine.
In exchange for this Pakistan has asked for Ukraine’s help to service and repair their “TV3-117VM Engines” used in Mi-17 helicopters.
This makes the country take benefit from getting cheap oil for its people from Russia. And make money out of the weapons sale to Ukraine.
It is not the first instance of Pakistan’s hypocritical attitude towards Russia. According to the report Pakistan supported the US-led proxy war in Afghanistan in the 1980s, it was the conduit for training, arming and controlling the “Mujahideen” that fought the erstwhile USSR, causing close to 15,000 Russian deaths.
