Russia offers Pakistan to expand practice of warships calling at ports
ISLAMABAD. Nov 20 (Interfax-AVN) - Russia has proposed expanding the practice of Pakistani and Russian warships calling at the ports of Russia and Pakistan, said Russian Defense Minister Army Gen. Sergei Shoigu, who led the Russian delegation at the talks with his Pakistani counterpart Khawaja Muhammad Asif.
"We acknowledged that cooperation between the two countries' navies has been developing successfully. We considered the possibility of devising a memorandum of cooperation in the naval sphere. The Russian side proposed expanding the practice of warships calling at the ports of Russia and Pakistan," Shoigu said.
The talks also focused on other possible ways of expanding the bilateral military cooperation, he said. These include "an increase in delegations' exchange, participation in exercises as observers, training military personnel, exchange of experience in peacekeeping operations and in fighting terrorism and piracy," the Russian minister said.
The atmosphere at the talks was "constructive and friendly," Shoigu said.
"Such an approach fosters gradual increase of defense cooperation between Russia and Pakistan," the minister said.
He thanked the Pakistani defense minister for inviting him to visit Islamabad. He also expressed his gratitude to Pakistan for agreeing to take part in the 2015 competition of armor crewmen and pilots. "I count on our further close cooperation," said the Russian defense minister.