Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, meeting Russian President Vladimir Putin in Beijing on Tuesday, expressed gratitude for Moscow’s “all the support to Pakistan” and acknowledged Russia’s balancing role in South Asia.
“We respect your relations with India,” Sharif remarked, adding, “But we also want to build very strong relations.” Calling Putin “a very dynamic leader,” he emphasized that Pakistan–Russia ties would be “supplementary and complementary.” A short video of the interaction was shared by RT India, capturing Putin nodding as Sharif spoke.
Diplomatic Tightrope: Russia, India, and Pakistan
Sharif’s overture comes at a time when New Delhi has reinforced its decades-long friendship with Moscow, even as India recalibrates ties with China. Despite global pressure following the Ukraine war, India continued oil imports from Russia, resisting punitive US tariffs imposed under President Donald Trump.
Sharif’s remarks about India were pointedly timed. Just a day earlier, at the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit in Tianjin, Prime Minister Narendra Modi secured a significant diplomatic win. The joint declaration by all 10 members condemned the Pahalgam terror attack, which India directly attributes to Pakistan.
The Terror Question at SCO
While the declaration did not name Pakistan, the undertone was hard to miss. The shift was striking—back in June, the SCO had stopped short of condemning Pahalgam. This time, however, the strong statement marked a setback for Islamabad, even as its Prime Minister signed the very document that indirectly targeted his country’s credibility on terror.
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Pakistan’s Reliance on China
Despite the setback at SCO, Pakistan retains a thriving partnership with China. Sharif and Pakistan’s Army Chief, Field Marshal Asim Munir, also held talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping ahead of Beijing’s much-anticipated military parade on Wednesday, September 3.
The parade, drawing at least 26 world leaders, will showcase China’s growing military strength. Among those attending, apart from Putin and Sharif, is North Korea’s Kim Jong Un, further underlining Beijing’s efforts to display its influence on the global stage.
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What It Means for South Asia
Pakistan’s bid to deepen ties with Russia is part of a broader strategy in an increasingly multipolar world. However, the contrast is striking: India is utilizing decades of defense and energy cooperation to strengthen its dependable partnership with Russia, while Islamabad is courting Moscow.
For Pakistan, the challenge remains how to sustain relevance when international platforms like the SCO increasingly tilt in India’s favor, especially on issues of terrorism.
