On the evening of February 23, a special flight from Islamabad will land at Vnukovo-2: Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan will arrive in Moscow.
This is a historic visit - the first in 23 years.
That is the first not only for the prime minister of Pakistan, but also the first visit of the first person of Pakistan for President Putin.
Prior to that, in 1999, former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif visited Moscow - as they say, it was in a different historical era.
#PMIKInRussia
Prime Minister Imran Khan will visit Russia on February 23-24, the official Russian media has reported, signaling the first visit by a Pakistani premier to Moscow in 23 years.@PtiOfficialSGDpic.twitter.com/Gg32wrbT7n
— PTI Sargodha Official (@PtiOfficialSGD) February 23, 2022
Pakistan, it must be admitted, has not been in the orbit of states friendly to Russia all these years.
During the Cold War, we were on opposite sides of the barricades, and Afghanistan also served as a serious watershed for many years.
And immediately after the withdrawal of Soviet troops from Afghanistan, the Taliban * came to power there - the brainchild of the Pakistani interagency intelligence ISI.
In the current revival of the Taliban 2.0 and its capture of Kabul in August 2021, Russia took a surprisingly pragmatic position, met, however, by many without understanding - from the first days of the seizure of power, the Taliban was supported by Moscow, including the line of cooperation with it and Pakistan was initiated by Zamir Kabulov, Director of the Second Asian Department of the Russian Foreign Ministry and the President's Special Representative for Afghanistan.
One way or another, this line of cooperation with the Taliban and Pakistan led to the fact that when Western embassies hastily evacuated their employees from Kabul, the Russian embassy continued its work under the protection of the Taliban, and 23 years later Russia and Pakistan began to intensify cooperation.
Two key steps in bringing Russia and Pakistan closer in recent years are the signing of a bilateral defense cooperation agreement in 2014 and the inclusion of Pakistan in the SCO (Shanghai Cooperation Organization) with Russian support in 2017.
During 2021-2022, the rapprochement between Pakistan and the Russian Federation was active.
Prime Minister Imran Khan will stay in Moscow until 25 February.
According to the Pakistani Foreign Office, he will be accompanied by a high-level delegation, including cabinet ministers.
And most importantly, the meeting between Prime Minister Imran Khan and President Vladimir Putin, scheduled for February 24.
The key issues to be discussed are, of course, Afghanistan and regional security.
With whom, if not with Pakistan, to discuss the Taliban government of Afghanistan.
The second important issue is energy cooperation.
Let me remind you that Russia is investing in and building the Pakistan Stream gas pipeline from Karachi to Kasur with a length of 1,100 km in Pakistan.
The meeting between Putin and Imran Khan is undoubtedly the most important achievement of Russian foreign policy in the Asian direction, multi-vector and pragmatic.
According to Pakistani media, the prologue to this visit was Khan's phone call to Putin on January 17, 2022, when he praised and thanked the Russian president for his criticism of blasphemy and Islamophobia in Western countries.
I wrote about this in detail in the "Message to the Islamic World" column.
Just to President Putin primarily to express my appreciation for his emphatic statement that freedom of speech could not be a pretext to abuse our Prophet PBUH.
He is the first Western leader to show empathy & sensitivity to Muslim sentiment for their beloved Prophet PBUH
— Imran Khan (@ImranKhanPTI) January 17, 2022
There is no doubt that the rapprochement between Islamabad and Moscow is taking place against the backdrop of confrontation between Russia and the United States and with both countries drawing closer to China.
Despite Pakistan's most active, if not key, role in bringing the Taliban to power in Afghanistan and regional security issues, Imran Khan's efforts to establish contact with US President Joe Biden were unsuccessful.
Until now, the President of the United States not only did not meet with Imran Khan - he never even called him.
It should be noted that Pakistan has been seriously drifting between the US and China in recent years.
And the first step that Islamabad "welcomed" Biden's election and his coming to the White House was that he released from prison the Islamist Ahmed Omar Sheikh, who kidnapped and beheaded the Wall Street Journal journalist Daniel Pearl in 2002.
Ahmed Omar Said Sheikh
AP
© Zia Mazhar
The Americans have already had scandals with the Sheikh.
For the first time, when instead of execution he was given a life sentence.
The second is when, on January 28, 2021, a bench of the Supreme Court of Pakistan ordered his release.
Otherwise, this gesture cannot be perceived as indicative.
Biden takes office on January 20, 2021, a week later Pakistan sends him “fiery greetings”, not only revealingly releasing the killer of an American journalist (who was executed by the Islamists as a CIA officer), but also settling him in a dacha with state guards.
The reaction of the White House was not long in coming.
The comrades of the Chinese Communist Party must have been very pleased with the way their geopolitical ally congratulated Comrade Biden on taking office.
Already in May 2021, Imran Khan began to hastily correct the situation: after a long quarrel with Saudi Arabia and the UAE and throwing himself into the Iranian-Turkish-Malaysian friendship, he went to Arabia to improve relations.
Then Khan's lobbyists organized for him the most respectable press, including the cover of Newsweek calling for cooperation.
But Biden is still silent.
© Screenshot from newsweek.com
Therefore, after almost a year of difficult relations with the United States, torn between Beijing and Washington, also, obviously, striving for a multi-vector approach, Imran Khan is turning to face Moscow.
Of course, we must not miss such a historic opportunity.
Cooperation with Pakistan should be developed in various fields.
In addition, one must be prepared for the fact that a deal between Iran and the United States is already on the threshold and Iran can make a serious “Western” turn if they agree with the Americans.
By the way, this is an interesting nuance: at the moment when the confrontation between Russia and the West reached its peak, the President of Iran was visiting Moscow, and President Putin met with Chinese leader Xi Jinping in Beijing, we see how our Western partners, despite the public rhetoric, beautifully and skillfully "pulled out" of the last triangle "China-Russia-Iran" so frightening to the West.
Well, then, despite the uniqueness of relations with Iran, Russia can and should seize the moment and try to build deep all-round ties with another Islamic republic - Pakistan, a nuclear state with approximately 228 million people and an army that is among the ten most powerful armies. peace.
This is something we should learn from our eastern partners from Tehran – not to put all our eggs in one basket.
Now that Moscow and Delhi also manage to build good relations, we may be able to play the role of a mediator between India and Pakistan (despite the eternal Kashmir issue), and also use our remaining advantages in Central Asia.
I hope that the communication between President Putin and the Prime Minister of Pakistan will not take place at such a great distance, but will serve as a true symbol of the rapprochement of the two countries.
It is also important to understand that Pakistan currently has good relations with Ukraine.
Pakistan's ambassador in Kiev (former military) Noel Israel Khokhar more than ten years in charge of cooperation in the field of defense, particularly in the field of defense production, the exchange of technology and structure of joint ventures on both sides.
Ukrainian T-80UD tanks are part of armored forces of Pakistan.
In the years 2020-2021, Pakistan imported from Ukraine about 1.2 million tons of wheat.
When it became known about the forthcoming visit of Prime Minister Imran Khan to Russia, the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry promptly arranged a meeting between Deputy Foreign Minister of Ukraine Emine Dzheppar and Ambassador of Pakistan Major General Khokhar, where he expressed support for the territorial integrity of Ukraine.
But, on the other hand, Russia is supplying S-400s and other weapons to Pakistan's "sworn friend" - India.
This is normal - a policy of balance, balance and pragmatism.
Although this factor and other "pebbles in the shoes" will now definitely try to take advantage of those to whom the union of the Russian Federation and Pakistan is like a bone in the throat.
“For nearly 30 years, gas-rich Iran has tried to sell natural gas to energy-starved neighboring Pakistan.
Now Russia will provide Pakistan with natural gas.
Make whatever you want out of it, but this is a symptom of a much larger problem affecting policy-making in Tehran,” writes Alex Vatanka, one of the best American experts on Iran.
For almost 30 yrs, gas-rich Iran tried to sell natural gas to energy-starved Pakistan next door
Now Russia will provide Pakistan with natural gas
Make of it what you will but this is a symptom of a much larger problem impacting policymaking in Tehran https http://t.co/NY06HkV1KJ
— Alex Vatanka (@AlexVatanka) June 4, 2021
The main thing now is that nothing should stand in the way of a unique chance to take full advantage of the current historical moment, which opens up a window of exciting new opportunities.
* "Taliban" - the organization is under UN sanctions for terrorist activities.
The point of view of the author may not coincide with the position of the editors.