Two-week joint military exercise in counterterrorism domain ‘Druzhba VI’ kickstarted in Russia
Pakistan and Russia on Wednesday agreed to strengthen cooperation in the military field.
The agreement was reached during the meeting of the Russian-Pakistani military advisory committee on defense and security, held in Islamabad today.
Russian Deputy Defence Minister Col Gen Alexander V. Fomin – who is in Pakistan to attend the third round of Russia-Pakistan Joint Military Consultative Committee (JMCC) meetings – confirmed Russia and Pakistan’s readiness to further strengthen bilateral military cooperation.
“During the talks, a positive assessment was given to the dynamically developing mutually beneficial relations in the military field, and the desire to use the accumulated potential as efficiently as possible to strengthen military cooperation was reaffirmed,” said Fomin.
Defense Secretary retired Lt Gen Mian Mohammad Hilal Hussain represented Pakistan at the talks.
Areas of mutual military cooperation discussed at JMCC
Pakistan’s defense ministry said in a media statement that the representatives of the defense departments of the Russian Federation and Pakistan reviewed the existing status of bilateral relations and explored different areas of mutual cooperation, including
- Military training
- Intelligence cooperation
- Joint exercise
- Defence industrial cooperation
“The progressive development of relations between our states and military departments is an important factor in ensuring regional stability,” Fomin said.
He further said that Pakistan was one of the few countries with which, despite the serious epidemic situation around the globe, Russia decided to actively carry out planned joint activities.
The military delegations of both sides agreed on effective follow-up and implementation of the decisions taken during the meeting. The two sides also hoped that the JMCC would continue to strengthen defense cooperation.
Exercise Druzhba VI kickstarts in Russia
Meanwhile, a two-week joint military exercise in counterterrorism domain ‘Exercise Druzhba VI’ kickstarted at the Molkino Trg area of Krasnodar, Russia, on Wednesday. Special Forces of Russia and Pakistan are participating in the exercise.
About JMCC
The JMCC was set up in 2018 as the top bilateral forum on defense cooperation. The military partnership between Islamabad and Moscow is governed by their defense cooperation agreement of 2014. Defense ties between the two countries have steadily grown since they signed the cooperation accord.
The two sides agreed to hold the fourth round of JMCC meetings in Russia in 2022.