Moscow, Russia: “Pakistan and Russia are worried over spread of Islamic State in Afghanistan and denial of facts about the spread of Islamic State (Daesh) in Afghanistan by US and NATO military forces”.
This was stated by Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov while addressing a joint press conference with Foreign Minister of Pakistan Kh. Asif here on Tuesday.
Foreign Minister Asif is visiting Moscow on the invitation of Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.
Lvarov during press conference said that Russia will continue to contribute to strengthening the counter-terrorism potential of Pakistan.
Comments of Sergey Lavrov are stated below:
Particular attention was paid to the situation in Afghanistan and around it. We have a common concern about the degradation of the security situation in this country, the growth of terrorist activity, the narcotic threat that does not disappear anywhere, and the strengthening of the positions of Islamic State (Daesh) in the north and east of Afghanistan. “Asif and Lavrov meeting was excellent and would help both countries for their future bilateral relationships, reports Dispatch News Desk )DND) news agency.
Unfortunately, we have to admit that the military presence of the United States and NATO for many years has not brought peace and stability to Afghans. Moreover, the strategy recently introduced by the US Administration on Afghanistan is focused on building up military pressure on the armed opposition, although Islamabad and Moscow consider this strategy “hopeless”. We (Pakistan and Russia) proceed from the need to launch the process of national reconciliation in the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan as soon as possible, with the leading role of the Afghans themselves and taking into account the interests of the states of the region.
We have coinciding or close positions on Middle Eastern affairs, in particular, on Syria and on other regional and international topics that are of interest to our countries. Today, in this context, we discussed the situation surrounding the Syrian settlement, the Syrian chemical dossier, in which some countries, unfortunately, are trying to speculate for unscrupulous purposes. We discussed the alarming situation that has developed in the Palestinian-Israeli settlement. We have a common position that it is necessary to solve this problem on the basis of the UN Security Council resolution and the “Arab Peace Initiative”, which, by the way, was supported by all members of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation.
As I said, we held very useful talks, which confirmed mutual readiness to expand Russian-Pakistani cooperation both on the bilateral agenda and in regional and international affairs.
Our relations with Pakistan are constructive and mutually beneficial. In May this year, 70 years have passed since the establishment of bilateral diplomatic relations.
We are currently developing an intensive political dialogue at the highest level. Partnering character has interaction in international organizations, primarily in the UN and its specialized institutions.
We have today confirmed the readiness of Russian side to continue to contribute to strengthening the counter-terrorism potential of Pakistan, which is in the interests of the entire region. Last year, we gave our partners four transport-combat helicopters Mi-35M. I am sure that they are in demand in carrying out anti-terrorist operations, as our colleagues told us today. We decided to continue the practice of conducting joint tactical exercises “Friendship” to work out cooperation in carrying out counter-terrorist operations in mountainous conditions. The experience of such exercises was already in the autumn of last year in Karachay-Cherkessia.
We agreed to work vigorously to build up trade and economic cooperation. We stress the importance of the active work of the Russian-Pakistani Intergovernmental Commission on Trade, Economic, Scientific and Technical Cooperation, the fifth meeting of which was held in Moscow in November last year, where concrete decisions were taken. It is important to fulfill them in order for our trade to reach a more adequate level for the potential of our countries.
A commission for military-technical cooperation is being formed in the development of an intergovernmental agreement signed in the past year in this sphere.
We discussed the prospects for energy cooperation, which is one of our priorities. The flagship project is the construction of the North-South Gas Pipeline from Karachi to Lahore in accordance with the intergovernmental agreement of 2015. Other options are being worked out, including the supply of liquefied natural gas to PJSC Gazprom through Pakistan, the construction of regional pipelines, including the offshore gas pipeline Iran -Pakistan-India (IPI).
Additional opportunities were opened after the accession of Islamabad to the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) as a full member. As you know, last June at the SCO summit in Astana, India and Pakistan were admitted to the ranks of this Organization. We agreed to step up cooperation within the framework of the SCO. As our colleagues confirmed to us today, Pakistan will continue to vigorously integrate into the practical activities of the Organization and work on its broad agenda, including issues of ensuring security in the region.
We welcome the connection of Pakistan to the Regional Ant-terrorist Structure of the SCO. Today we have explained in detail our initiative to create on the basis of the RATS a universal Center to counter modern challenges and threats, including the fight against drug trafficking, which directly feeds terrorism.
Question: The relationship between Pakistan and Russia can be called “spring”. What kind of interaction is being conducted between the two countries in the sphere of education?
Foreign Minister Lavrov: We have quite good traditions, which are not one decade old. We are interested in that the Pakistanis continue to receive education in our country, so that the number of those who study in our universities, higher education institutions, at various faculties, in various specialties, increased. Today we conveyed this wish to our Pakistani colleagues. We noticed that 90 state scholarships were allocated for the current academic year. We will be ready to increase this figure.
Question: Today, the problems of the presence of the Islamic State (Daesh) militants in Afghanistan and the lack of coordination with the US in the control of the border were touched upon, which leads to the danger of the penetration of the Daesh fighters into the territory of Central Asia and Russia. What concrete actions can be taken today to prevent this? Is the coordination of the SCO sufficient or are there any concrete steps being taken by Russia and Pakistan to prevent the penetration of militants into the territory of both countries?
Foreign Minister Lavrov: Regarding Afghanistan and the roots of Islamic State being allowed there, we discussed this today. It worries us very much. It is also worrisome that, unfortunately, the US and NATO military forces that are present in Afghanistan are trying to silence these facts, deny and do their best to present the case in a way that does not correspond to the truth. According to our data and the data of Pakistani colleagues, these facts are there. Presence of Islamic State in the north and east of Afghanistan is quite serious (there are already thousands of bandits). This presence is growing. In the context of the threats you mentioned, literally on the border with our Central Asian neighbors, this increases the risk of terrorists entering Central Asia, and from there it is not so difficult to get into the Russian Federation further. We proceed from the fact that it is necessary to intensify efforts to prevent such a development of events.
With the full membership of Pakistan and India in the SCO, all key neighbors of Afghanistan are now represented. Afghanistan itself participates in the SCO as an observer. In the autumn of last year in October, on the initiative of Russia, we resumed the work of the SCO-Afghanistan Contact Group, where these problems will be among the most urgent. Such a meeting was held in Moscow, the second meeting of this contact group is being prepared. Our Chinese colleagues invited him to host it.
I note the presence of the regional anti-terrorist structure of the SCO, which we also spoke about today. There are opportunities to develop practical measures to curb the threat of the influence of IGIL in Afghanistan and the transfer of this influence to Central Asia. As I have already said, we will promote the reforms of this regional anti-terrorist structure so that it covers not only counter-terrorism measures, but also the fight against drug trafficking.
Unfortunately, the long-term presence of the United States and NATO in Afghanistan did not reduce the terrorist threat, and the drug threat increased many times. These are the data of the UN organization, they cannot be ignored. We continue to expect from our American colleagues the answer to the questions Russia raised repeatedly, arising from public statements by the leaders of some Afghan provinces, that unidentified helicopters, to which, in all likelihood, NATO forces are somehow related, are carrying out flights to those areas of Afghanistan where militants are based. No one can explain the reasons for these flights so far. They generally try to avoid answers to these legitimate questions.
We are very worried by the fact that the influence of Islamic State is expanding in Afghanistan. We are very seriously suspicious of how the NATO coalition led by the United States, which is now there, is concerned with this threat, what measures are being taken to suppress it. US under new strategy will use more military power in Afghanistan while we (Pakistan and Russia) believe that Afghanistan has no military solution and political dialogue can take Afghanistan out of decades old war.
I want to add that along with the structures of the SCO, with our Russian bilateral agreements in the relevant spheres with our neighbors in Central Asia, which border Afghanistan, there are also very important programs within the CSTO. CSTO regularly conducts operations to combat terror, illegal migrants, and drug trafficking.
