India's relations with Russia stand on its merit, not influenced by relations with others: MEA on Lavrov's Pak visit
Apr 08, 2021
New Delhi [India], April 8 : Following Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov's visit to Pakistan, India has said that "its close, time-tested and strategic relations with Russia stand on their own merit and are not influenced by relations with other countries".
After his recent India visit, Lavrov visited Islamabad where he met the top leadership of Pakistan, including the military leadership, according to reports. During his visit, Russia expressed that it is ready to supply special military equipment to Pakistan to strengthen its counter-terrorism capabilities.
He is the first Russian foreign minister to visit Pakistan since 2012. Lavrov also met Pakistan's Prime Minister Imran Khan.
Russia is playing a lead role in the Afghan peace process and political settlement, last month Pakistan was also invited for its Troika meet in Moscow.
Russia has been a key supplier of military defence equipment to India, including much talked about air defence system S-400
Any commitment by Moscow to Islamabad in the area of defence is unlikely to go down well here in India.
However, during Lavrov's India visit, Russia has said that it is getting in defence partnership with the concept of 'Make in India' and 'Atmanirbhar India'.
Speaking on Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov's visit to India, MEA spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said: "The visit of the Russian Foreign Minister was a good opportunity to renew and review our privileged partnership. A broad range of issues were discussed."
