Russia joins Pakistan in ‘anti-terror drill’

ISLAMABAD/NEW DELHI: Russia and Pakistan, two Cold War enemies when the former existed as the USSR, came together on Friday for their first-ever joint military exercise called 'Friendship 2016' in a development that will be watched keenly in both Delhi and Washington DC.
"A contingent of Russian ground forces arrived in Pakistan for the first Pak-Russian joint exercise scheduled from September 24 to October 10," said Lt General Asim Saleem Bajwa of the Pakistani army media wing.

While India said it would observe the developments closely, a late night release from the Russian embassy in Delhi stated: " Russia-Pak anti-terror exercise is not being held in so-called Azad Kashmir or in any other sensitive or problematic areas like Gilgit-Baltistan. The only venue is Cherat. Reports alleging drills taking place at military school in Rattu are mischievous."

The Russian defence ministry said the exercise was aimed at strengthening and developing military cooperation with Pakistan aimed at, among other things, "eliminating illegal armed groups", the Russian defence ministry said in a statement. The joint drill, even if it's not taking place in POK, isn't great news for India, especially when it's seeking to isolate Pakistan internationally for the Uri attack in which 18 Indian soldiers were killed by Pakistan-based terrorists.

Despite India's growing ties to both the US and Israel, Russia remains India's steadfast defence ally and its number one arms supplier. "India's US-friendly foreign policy has encouraged Russia to hold its first ever military exercise with Pakistan," said strategic affairs expert Brahma Chellaney.

The thaw in Pakistan's ties with Russia since 2014, when Moscow decided to do away with its arms embargo on Islamabad, is fast turning into one of the most significant geopolitical challenges for India. The exercise follows Russia's decision in 2015 to sell Mi-35 attack helicopters to Pakistan. Moscow has closely watched India's growing ties to the US over the years, not least under PM Modi, and the convergence of New Delhi's Act East Policy with the US rebalance in the Asia-Pacific that culminated recently in the signing of a logistics support pact for defence cooperation with the US.

On major issues like maritime disputes in Southeast Asia, while India's position is aligned more with Japan and the US, Russia continues to stand behind China as evident from their just concluded naval exercise in South China Sea . The opposition has accused the Centre of compromising on its strategic autonomy by signing the logistics pact even though the defence minister has denied that it's a military alliance.

Russia's decision to go ahead with the drill is likely to make India's task of isolating Pakistan more complex. As Chellaney said, India is yet to take any step on its own to cut-off Pakistan diplomatically. "It has not even downgraded its diplomatic ties with Pakistan. So far it has been all talk and no action," he said.