Why Pakistan is Building Ties with Russia?

A couple of days ago Prime Minister of Pakistan, Imran Khan went on a foreign tour to Moscow, a Biden Official came to Pakistan and was inclined to reconsider this first visit by a Pakistani leader in 23 years. Pakistan was put under pressure to stand against Russia's oppression of Ukraine.

After calm listening and understanding the things that the official had to say, Pakistan clearly said a 'No'. Shah Mehmood Qureshi, the Foreign Minister of Pakistan said, all the pros and cons of the visit to Moscow were understood beforehand and the conclusion was made that Pakistan needs to expand its diplomatic space. However, it was quite difficult for Pakistan to oversee the backdrop of possible implications from the western side. The only reason to ignore the US pressure was that Pakistan had to strengthen its foreign policy by joining hands with Russia.

The visit that IK made was the result of several hidden and apparent efforts by both states to bury the hatchet and start a new and stronger cooperation. The former Cold War rivals were linked to a new era of alignments by mending the fences. Pakistan has remained the US ally for quite a long time and this alliance had to face many hard times. This alliance was put at risk when the US made a change in its South Asia policy and making India the regional power.

Before this amendment, the US has always supported Pakistan's sentiments whenever dealing with India. But, to counter the China rise, the US wants to strengthen the bonds with India and completely ignored Pakistan. The status of India was promoted to par with NATO allies. Although India is not a part of NPT (Nuclear-non Proliferation Treaty) and Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG), India is granted access to nuclear technologies. The main idea of this whole conspiracy was to make sure India could defend itself against China, but this disturbed the balance in South Asia.

China played a major part in Pak-Russia ties, Beijing is the key player in bringing Russia and Pakistan together as both states can be pretty formidable defenses when dealing with international challenges. These efforts have made Pakistan and Russia, strategic partners.

Although Russia is being aggressive and asserting itself, the US and other western states can only impose sanctions and are doing it. Pakistan is not trying to end its relations with the US but its trying to find some leverage in the divided world.