Natwar shrugs off Pak, Russia growing defence relations

MOSCOW—India is not concerned at the possibility of Russia’s defence cooperation with Pakistan as it believes its long-term ally will never take steps which could harm New Delhi, External Affairs Minister K Natwar Singh has said.
“Russia and Pakistan have full right to develop their bilateral cooperation. We are not concerned at this. We believe that Russia will not take steps which could harm India,” Singh told Russian government daily ‘Rossiskaya Gazeta’.
Earlier, during his Moscow visit to attend the prime ministers’ meeting of Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO), Pakistani Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz had expressed Islamabad’s desire to develop defence cooperation with Russia. He, however, added that this depends on how far Moscow is to move in this direction and what it would offer.
Singh, who concluded his four-day Russia visit to Moscow on Friday, besides representing India at SCO meet also had wide ranging discussions on boosting bilateral ties and key international issues with President Vladimir Putin, Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Zhukov and Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.—Agencies