Contrary to international perception, the Pakistan PM’s recent meeting with Putin was not about Ukraine. In fact, in a recent statement announcing a social stimulus package, Imran Khan repeated that Pakistan will not participate in any bloc in the Ukraine-Russia conflict. This is the very same line the prime minister adopted in his historic statement of February 24, which marked the first meeting between the two countries’ heads of state in 23 years.

Although the meeting, which was planned six months ago, happened on the same day as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, it did not have a direct connection with Russia’s issues with Ukraine. Rather, the following six points were discussed and will likely remain in the forefront for Pakistan-Russia relations:

Bilateral Relations

In the past Russia and Pakistan were not on good terms because of Pakistan’s involvement in the Afghan-Soviet war, where Pakistan supported the Mujahideen with the help from China and the USA. This resulted in a deadlock in foreign affairs between Russia and Pakistan for more than two decades. When in 2018 Imran Khan became prime minister, it represented a major shift for Pakistan. He didn’t support US narratives and criticized France, the foremost player along with Germany in the EU, for its anti-Islamic policies. Earlier Pakistan was in the American bloc and now they are acting as an independent country that wants to cash in on its prime geopolitical position between India, China, Russia, Afghanistan and other developing countries.

Geopolitical issues: Afghanistan and Kashmir

Imran Khan discussed with Putin the potential threat to the region stemming from Afghanistan. In Afghanistan’s post-American regime, millions of Afghans are experiencing food shortages, which could lead to a conflict that would destabilize the entire region.

Then Imran asked for Putin’s support to resolve the Kashmir dispute, one of Pakistan’s most significant and long-standing issues. Pakistan requested peace talks with India, but India has not been in a negotiating mood, so Pakistan is seeking help from Russia to play the role of moderator between the two countries. Moreover, Pakistan is looking for assistance to support the Pakistani narrative in the UN.

FATF

In matters of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) aimed at combatting financial terrorism, Imran Khan asked for help from Putin to fulfill the few missing points out of thirty criteria that Pakistan is missing. The successful fulfillment of the criteria will ensure that Pakistan can get out of the gray list and improve its ability to complete money transfers to and from other countries. Pakistan is seeking support from other permanent members of FATF including Russia to become a member.

Islamophobia

Imran Khan expressed support for Putin’s recent statement earlier this year in favour of Islam, where he said that free speech should not include insulting the Prophet Mohammad. Islamophobia and anti-Islamic sentiment in Europe is a growing concern for Pakistan, an Islamic country by law. Pakistan seeks allies to allow its citizens and migrants to live according to Islamic tradition even while abroad.

Energy Crisis

As Pakistan is facing an energy crisis, Pakistan wants to get the help of Russia to resolve this issue by completing the 1000km liquified natural gas pipeline project Pakistan Stream from Karachi to the Punjab that has long been delayed since its initiation in 2015.

Trade Ties

Moreover, Pakistan wants to build strong trade ties with Russia in the IT and other sectors, Khan also wants Russia to invest in Pakistan, saying that it is lucrative and there is a lot of potential for growth.

How Crimea and Donbas connect to Kashmir

Since the 1991 referendum when Ukraine voted for independence from Russia, Russian nationalists waged a fierce campaign to prevent Ukrainian nationalism from building. The Crimea and Donbas Russian occupation strengthened both pro-Russian and Ukrainian nationalism by marking Russia as a common enemy of Ukrainians.

While it seems like Pakistan could sympathize with Ukrainian nationalists over the Crimea and Donbas issues’ similarity to the Kashmir issue, the meeting demonstrates Pakistan’s need for strengthening ties with Russia. It seems Pakistan is not willing to interfere in the issue, other than advocating for peace, since it will jeopardizes relations with either opposing side.

What is Pakistan going to do related to the Russia-Ukraine war?

The timing of this visit was crucial due to the Ukraine-Russia conflict but Pakistan has a soft stance on this issue, provoking criticism from Ukraine supporters. Pakistan doesn’t support the war nor have they mentioned that they are against the invasion of Ukraine, and it seems likely this soft positioning will continue.

Because of the historical relationship between Pakistan and Soviet Union – first Pakistan was on the Soviet side in the 60s and 70s, then they joined the American bloc in defeating Soviet Union control of Afghanistan – they are hesitant to disrupt the power balance again and create another impasse when they are in desperate need of cooperation from Russia on various issues, particularly energy.

However, Imran Khan is showing that he does care about this issue in terms of the potential disruption to Pakistan’s energy prices in a country where people are already facing serious economic problems. For this reason, the Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan does not show indifference towards this issue, and is in strong favor of quick and peaceful resolution through talks. He said that the war should stop but did not name any one country as the aggressor, which has made the PM come under fire from critics. But more industrial stimulus measures announced two weeks ago show that the PM is ignoring the critics and is strictly focused on the issues related to Pakistan’s growth. Despite a neutral stance on paper, the international community is likely to view this positioning as Pakistan edging closer towards supporting Russia. However, even Ukraine’s supporters in NATO and the European Union are under fire for not doing enough, with NATO only deploying forces to surrounding countries and the EU sending 500 million for arms but no actual troops.

The views expressed in this article are those of the authors alone and do not necessarily reflect those of Geopoliticalmonitor.com