Beyond the headlines, Pakistan and Russia are drawing closer

From counterterrorism to trade corridors, Moscow and Islamabad are turning steady contact into a deeper, more durable relationship Sometimes trust develops gradually in settings that most people are unaware of, such as a working group, a ministerial handshake, or an agreement made on the fringes of a summit that garners national attention for a single day. For the better part of a decade, Pakistan and Russia have been developing this kind of trust. In the summer of 2026, there were a number of quiet episodes in quick succession that essentially focused on security, diplomacy, energy, education, and trade, with Afghanistan running through almost all of them as a shared concern. Work behind the scenes On June 23, Russian and Pakistani officials gathered in Islamabad for the 12th edition of their Joint Working Group on Countering International Terrorism, led by Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Dmitry Lyubinsky and Pakistan’s additional foreign secretary, Ambassador Khalid Jamali. The discussion focused on regional terrorist threats, with a particular emphasis on those originating in Afghanistan. The 12th such meeting – a number which indicates that the relationship is designed not for headlines, but for continuity, the kind that can withstand changes in government and the overall geopolitical climate. The two parties agreed that further intelligence sharing and international cooperation would be critical. Let us get the practical logic right: Bilateral channels like this one fill a void that slower, more bureaucratic multilateral organizations like the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) and the UN cannot cover on their own. Pakistan values Russia’s counterterrorism experience, particularly in urban warfare and counterinsurgency, while Russia is interested in Pakistan’s own operational experience along its western border. It is not a formal alliance, but it benefits both parties. A few weeks earlier, the two countries’ interior ministries had already been busy.

On June 6, Pakistani Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi met his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Kolokoltsev, on the sidelines of an SCO gathering in Bishkek, signing agreements on curbing illegal immigration, repatriating citizens, and countering narcotics trafficking. It wasn’t bilateral-only: Naqvi held similar meetings that week with the interior ministers of Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, and Kazakhstan. Pakistan used a regional platform to navigate several bilateral conversations in a few days. One element is worth noting: Participating ministers estimated that approximately 25 terrorist organizations are now functioning in Afghanistan. That single figure explains why Islamabad and Moscow continue to find reasons to communicate more effectively than any communiqué wording about “shared concerns” can. Read more Terrorism has gone cyber – and the world isn’t ready Common problems, varied approach There is undoubtedly a shared concern for both nations. Nearly every issue on this bilateral agenda includes Afghanistan, although Pakistan and Russia approach it in different ways. Islamabad’s main worry is groups that it claims operate from Afghan territory against targets in Pakistan, primarily the Balochistan Liberation Army and the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), which Pakistan firmly believes the Taliban authorities are harboring. This is denied by Kabul, which views the issue as an internal one in Pakistan. The Islamic State – Khorasan Province (ISKP), which has claimed assaults far beyond Afghanistan’s borders, even inside Russia, is Moscow’s top concern. Where the two countries converge is on engagement rather than isolation as the way to manage that risk. In April 2025, Russia removed the Taliban from its list of designated terrorist organizations, and in July 2025 it went further, becoming the first country to formally recognize the Talib