A press conference hall in Islamabad became the microcosm of geopolitics, reflecting tensions between a warring Russia, and Pakistan, that seemed warming up to Ukraine. It all started when a Russian journalist was shown the door from the presser. That was enough for the Kremlin to take up Pakistan’s case—albeit on Twitter.
This was no ordinary press conference. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba and his Pakistani counterpart Bilawal Bhutto Zardari were addressing reporters in Islamabad during Kuleba’s two-day visit to the country.
With questions flying thick about an ‘arms supply deal’ between Islamabad and Kyiv, a Russian journalist was ‘expelled’ from the room. The journalist, Ruslan Bekniyazov, was a senior correspondent of the state-owned ITAR-TASS (The Information Telegraph Agency of Russia).
Moscow did not take this lightly. The Russian Embassy in Pakistan took to Twitter to state that it stood “in solidarity with the Pakistani colleagues” of Bekniyazov. “It is inadmissible to violate reporters’ rights to access information,” it said, adding that the embassy requested Pakistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) to “provide clarity” on the incident.
Though it was later deleted, the strongly-worded tweet was an indication that the Kremlin was miffed with Islamabad, given the latter’s improving ties with Kyiv. Important to note here that Pakistan’s then prime minister Imran Khan was in Moscow on 20 February 2022, the day Russian President Vladimir Putin invaded Ukraine under the garb of a ‘special military operation to demilitarise and denazify’ the former Soviet colony.
Reports in the Pakistani media later suggested that the Russian journalist was forcibly made to leave the room at the insistence of the Ukrainian embassy in Pakistan. It was conveyed to Islamabad in no uncertain terms that no Russian journalist be allowed to attend the press conference.
The incident has brought to the fore Islamabad’s balancing act vis-a-vis Moscow on the one side and the West on the other.
Pakistan has been under pressure from the West to extend support to Kyiv. At the same time, Islamabad — which continues to reel under fiscal distress and is surviving on a $3 billion bailout from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) — has to rely on cheap Russian oil to slash import costs.
In June this year, two shipments of Russian crude arrived in Pakistan with the country reportedly in talks with Moscow for a third consignment.
The press conference Thursday provided a glimpse of the tightrope Islamabad has to walk over the war in Ukraine.
Pleased to receive Ukraine's FM@DmytroKuleba on his first visit to Pakistan. Exchanged views on bilateral & global issues of mutual interest. We agreed to expand cooperation in diverse areas by reinvigorating existing bilateral mechanisms. Expressed the hope that ongoing… pic.twitter.com/uT9B3rqQ3E
— BilawalBhuttoZardari (@BBhuttoZardari) July 20, 2023
Asked to comment on reports of an ‘arms deal’ with Kyiv, Bilawal Bhutto Zardari said the two countries “have not concluded any agreement on defence supplies” since the war began, keeping in view Islamabad’s “principled and consistent non-partisan position”.
His Ukrainian counterpart responded to the same question by saying that he “can confirm there are no intergovernmental arrangements between Pakistan and Ukraine in this area”. He added that military cooperation between the two countries dates back to 1996 when they signed contracts that resulted in the production of tanks in Pakistan with Ukrainian support.
Bilawal, meanwhile, also said he will approach the UN Secretary-General, along with his counterparts in Russia and Turkey, to push for the restoration of the Black Sea grain initiative — which enabled the export of Ukrainian grains. Russia suspended the deal earlier this month, leaving many countries around the world dependent on the deal in a state of limbo.
Kuleba too sent a message to the Kremlin with his statement: “We know that Pakistan supports our territorial integrity and the rest is in the hands of the Pakistani government to choose appropriate forums to find a way to support a country that is fighting for its sovereignty and territorial integrity against a much stronger neighbour.”
During his visit, the top Ukrainian diplomat also called on Pakistan PM Shehbaz Sharif.
(Edited by Anurag Chaubey)