Pakistan has signed a bilateral cooperation agreement with Russia to improve military relations.
The agreement was signed by Pakistan Defence Minister Khawaja Asif and his Russian counterpart Sergei Shoigu, during the latter’s visit to Islamabad.
Asif was quoted by Agence France Presse as saying: "The signing of the military cooperation agreement between the two significant countries of the region is a milestone.
"Both sides will translate this relationship in tangible terms and further strengthen military-to-military relations."
The agreement is expected to include information sharing and a strengthening of mutual trust, international security and counterterrorist and arms-control activities.
Shoigu told Sputnik International: "We agreed that bilateral military cooperation should have further practical direction, [which] would help to increase [the] military efficiency of our armed forces.
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By GlobalData"During the talks, we have shared our opinions in a series of the relevant problems on international and regional security. In the first place, this relates to Afghanistan.
"In many respects, our assessment of the situation in this country is either similar, or the same. We are interested in solving problems accumulated here as soon as possible."
Russia has recently lifted its ban on weapon supplies to Pakistan and was reportedly considering the sale of defence equipment, including combat helicopters, to the country.
Earlier this month, Russian Ambassador to Pakistan Alexey Dedov was quoted by Radio Pakistan as saying that a deal for Mi-35 aircraft deal has been ‘politically approved’.
In the last few years, Russia and Pakistan have maintained regular inter-parliamentary ties and technical, economic and scientific cooperation.