ISLAMABAD, November 20 (Sputnik) — Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and his Pakistani counterpart Khawaja Asif have signed an agreement on Thursday on cooperation between the countries’ defense ministries.
“An important step in strengthening Russian-Pakistani ties in military area was an agreement signed today on cooperation between defense ministries of the Russian Federation and the Islamic Republic of Pakistan,” Shoigu said following talks with his Pakistani colleague.
“We agreed that bilateral military cooperation should have further practical direction, would help to increase military efficiency of our armed forces,” Shoigu added.
During the meeting, Russia and Pakistan also agreed to cooperate on fighting against global terrorism and drug trafficking.
“During the talks, we have shared our opinions in a series of the relevant problems on international and regional security. In the first place, this relates to Afghanistan. In many respects, our assessment of the situation in this country is either similar, or the same,” Russian minister stated.
Shoigu said that the sides “highlighted an importance of coordinated efforts to fight global terrorism and drug trafficking”.
“We are interested in solving problems accumulated here as soon as possible,” Shoigu concluded.
Relations between Russia and Pakistan date back to 1948, when the Soviet Union and Pakistan first established bilateral diplomatic relations. For the past years, the countries have been maintaining regular inter-parliamentary ties. Russia and Pakistan cooperate in various areas, including technical, economic, and scientific cooperation.
