Russia has lifted embargo on selling arms and military hardware to Pakistan and is negotiating sale of helicopter gunships with the Islamic republic, battling militancy and insurgency .
Islamabad, June 3/Nationalturk – In a significant development signalling start of new era of relationship between the two countries, Russia has lifted embargo on selling arms and military hardware to Pakistan and is negotiating sale of helicopter gunships with the Islamic republic, battling militancy and insurgency .
Russian news agency RIA Novosti quoted head of Russia’s state defense corporation Rostec as saying that Russia has lifted embargo on sales of weapons and military hardware to Pakistan.
“Russia is planning to supply Pakistan with attack helicopters. We are negotiating the sales of Mi-35 helicopters to the country,” said Rostec CEO Sergei Chemezov.
Sources said Pakistan wants to purchase Mi-35 gunship helicopters to use them against the militants in country’s tribal areas. “Pakistan was interested in buying different attack helicopters from Russia”.
‘Weapons to Pakistan can hit Russia-India relations’
According to Russian analysts, potential delivery of weapons and military hardware to Pakistan from Moscow could create tension between Russia and India, arch rival of Pakistan.
“Historically, Russia had strong military ties with India and sold more weaponry and transferred military hardware technology to the country”.
They, however, said since India has of late been buying weapons from US and other European countries, Russia too had decided to supply arms to India’s arch rival, Pakistan.
Boris Volkhonsky, head of the Asian sector of the Russian Institute for Strategic Studies, was quoted as saying by RIA Novosti that although India has always tended to react badly to the idea of arms being supplied to Pakistan, he doesn’t expect collaboration between Moscow and Islamabad to cause problems.
“I do not think that India will have any objections. After all, India and Pakistan both buy weapons from the U.S., and this has not bothered them,” he said.
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Asia News/ NationalTurk Pakistan News
