Intrernational security

Putin Embraces Old Foe Pakistan to Curb Afghan Terror Threat

Cold War foes Russia and Pakistan are set to hold their first joint military drills on land, a sign that neighboring Afghanistan may avoid becoming the site of another proxy war between global powers.

Russian President Vladimir Putin, in need of cash, is seeking to shift away from his country’s decades-old relationship with India -- which is also buying more weapons systems from the US. In doing so, Putin is embracing an old adversary that helped Mujahideen insurgents expel Soviet forces from Afghanistan in the 1980s.

“Russia is increasingly concerned about the security situation in Afghanistan and recognizes the critical role that Pakistan would have to play in the reconciliation process between the Taliban and Afghan government," said Michael Kugelman, a South Asia expert at the Washington-based Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars.