Pakistan reaches out to Russia on NSG

New Delhi: With India being seen by many observers globally as virtually a de-facto US ally now, given the close proximity and strategic partnership that the two nations share, Pakistan — which already has fair-weather friend China for support — has reached out to Russia which has been India’s trusted defence partner and closest friend for decades in its earlier incarnation as the Soviet Union.

Pakistan’s adviser to the PM on foreign affairs Sartaj Aziz spoke to Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov for Russian support for a “non-discriminatory approach on NSG expansion to non-NPT states”.

Pakistan is also pitching for NSG membership in what is being seen as an active instigation by Beijing. Moscow has been peeved for sometime now due to the ever-growing proximity between India and the US, especially in the past two years of the Modi government.

With India buying military aircraft from the US, Russia had embarked on a move to sell military helicopters to Islamabad, highlighting that the two countries may be growing closer. Matters haven’t helped that the US and Russia have become bitter rivals over Ukraine and Syria. The Russian support for the Crimea region of Ukraine and its support to the Assad regime in Damascus have pitched it in direct confrontation with the US.

It is this faultline that Islamabad now hopes to exploit. With India seen by some to be moving away from Russia in the global power game and further into the American sphere of influence, Pakistan seems to be reaching out to Russia that would be ironical as Pakistan was the cold war ally of the US.