Pakistan may purchase military equipment from Russia

Washington, July 26 (IANS) Pakistan might purchase weapons and military equipment from Russia and counts on cooperation with Moscow in the energy sphere, a senior official has said.

The efforts of last couple of years made in the Russian-Pakistan relations “are now bearing fruit,” Tass quoted Tariq Fatemi, the special assistant to prime minister on foreign affairs, as telling reporters here.

Over the last one-and-a-half years, Russia and Pakistan “made significant progress in moving forward,” he said, adding “a memorandum on mutual understanding on cooperation in defense was signed.”

“We are considering the possibility of purchasing military equipment from Russia. However, no agreements were made yet on this issue,” Fatemi said on the prospects of Russia delivering Mi-35 attack helicopters to Islamabad.

The most important thing is that “Russia is capable of helping us in the sphere of producing electricity and energy”, he said.

Russia has special skills, competence and experience. He added that “the Soviet Union was the first country that came to Pakistan to help in the energy sphere back in the 1960s.”