Putian has all the reasons to visit Pakistan

Reportedly Russian Ambassador, Alexey Dedov said there was no reason the Russian President should visit Pakistan. His statement not only sounds amateurish but also shows his lack of understanding of the geopolitical scenario of the region. It may be an irony that the Russian diplomat is not only unaware of the history but also lack vision.

While delivering a lecture on Pak-Russia relations at the Institute of Strategic Studies, Islamabad he said, “The problem is that usually the purpose of the visit is not participation in ceremonies. The visit should have some substance.”

Ambassador Dedov defined the substance as “signing of documents” for cooperation, “preparation of plans” for expanding ties, and “declarations”.

The point to ponder is that no Russian or even Soviet president has ever visited Pakistan. President Putin had planned a visit to Islamabad in October 2012 for attending a quadrilateral summit between Pakistan, Russia, Tajikistan and Afghanistan, but cancelled it at the eleventh hour.

Former USSR and now Russia had a grudge that Pakistan remained in the lap of United States and also fought a proxy war in Afghanistan for a decade but have they ever bothered to review their own attitude? India, arch rival of Pakistan has always remained a darling of USSR/Russia.

The situation changed a bit during the regime of Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, only because of a bad patch of Pak-US relationship. This was because many Pakistanis strongly believed that the US played a key role in the creation of Bangladesh.

I would even go to the extent of saying that at that time USSR failed in exploiting the situation. It may also be said that assault on Afghanistan was considered a serious threat for Pakistan. That is the reason when USSR attacked Afghanistan, the US once again convinced Pakistan to fight its proxy war.

It is also on record that China, despite being a communist country, succeeded in maintaining the most cordial relationship with Pakistan. China was also fully aware of the US influence on Pakistan but never dragged it in Indo-China conflict.

The latest evidence of Pak-China strong relationship is agreement on development of China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), as against this Russia has not focused on developing economic relationship with Pakistan.

Russia played a major role in convincing the west to stop proxy war in Syria. If Russia is serious in expanding its influence in the region, it has to play a role in resolving Kashmir issue that has led to three wars between India and Pakistan.