Russia, Pakistan militaries set for joint war games in October

Russia and Pakistan have agreed to hold a joint military exercise — using Russian military equipment— in southern Russia in October.

Special Forces from Pakistan and Russia—two cold war enemies—will be participating in the war games, dubbed ‘Friendship-2019’.

The drill is slated to be held at the Molkino practice range, near the city of Krasnodar, in early October, according to the press office of Russia’s Southern Military District.

About 50 Russian forces will be taking part in the drill, which is aimed at exchanging experience between servicemen, developing and strengthening bilateral military and military-technical cooperation.

The report did not mention the number of participants from the Pakistani side.

It said mixed special-purpose groups, consisting of forces from both sides, will perform combat training tasks using Russian military hardware.

Pakistan, the traditional US ally in the region, which had been receiving military assistance from Washington, has suspended military and intelligence cooperation with the US following a similar move by President Donald Trump.

This has prompted Islamabad to seek closer ties with Moscow in recent years. 

Pakistani media reported earlier this month that Prime Minister Imran Khan will be attending the Eastern Economic Forum (EEF) in Russia which is to be held in September.

The thaw in relations between Islamabad and Moscow came in 2014, when Russia officially lifted an arms embargo against Pakistan, which had been in place since the Soviet-Afghan War.

Pakistan’s growing interest in Russian technology became even more apparent when reports pointed to Islamabad’s willingness to purchase Russian S-400 missile defense systems, among other items.

India, Pakistan’s arch rival, had also approved a plan to purchase five S-400 Triumph defense systems, despite earlier warnings from the US against any military transaction with Russia.

New Delhi had earlier received warnings from Washington about buying Russian arms. Under its current sanctions against Moscow, Washington could impose sanctions on other countries should they do any business with the Russian defense or intelligence sectors.

Russia, however, will deliver the first missile system by the end of 2020.

In addition, India plans to seal a new 10-year framework deal with Russia to manufacture and upgrade at least a dozen types of Russian armament systems used in the country, including fighters jets, artillery guns and rocket launcher systems.

Moscow has also begun delivering the 2nd batch of its advanced S-400 missile defense systems to China as part of a 2014 contract.

The delivery of the entire S-400 regiment set to China envisages "involving no less than three vessels" that will take to the sea one by one "within short time intervals," Russia’s Tass News Agency quoted an unnamed military source as saying on Wednesday.

In 2014, China ordered four to six Russian-made S-400 regimental units for an estimated price of around $3 billion.

The United States has competitively sold, and continues to sell, its rival Patriot missile systems to regional countries to counter Russia’s expanding influence within the region.