ISLAMABAD: Pakistani military officers will receive training in Russian Federation military institutes under a recent agreement signed between the two countries.

The deal underscores Pakistan’s increasing reliance on Russia for its military needs amid strained relations with the US. It was signed earlier this week during a visit by Russian Deputy Defence Minister Col Gen Alexander Fomin.

The agreement comes as local media reported the US has stopped financing military training in the US for Pakistani soldiers — a step that Senator Mushahid Hussain Sayed called “wrong and counterproductive.”

Mr Hussain, chairman of the Foreign Affairs committee, said the US is repeating past mistakes through failed policy of trying to bully and browbeat Pakistan with such short-sighted sanctions.

Published in Dawn, August 12th, 2018