ISLAMABAD (TIP): Russia will sell Mi-35 helicopters to Pakistan to strengthen its counter-terrorism efforts, media reported November 14. Russia’s Ambassador Alexey Dedov said the deal between Pakistan and Russia would help combat terrorism, The Nation reported. He said politically the deal has been approved, however, further negotiations on details of political-commercial contract are in progress.

Dedov also said that Russian Defence Minister Sergey Shoygu would soon visit Islamabad and his agenda of talks with his counterparts includes the sale of defence equipments to Pakistan. He said that Russia was also interested in various energy-related projects, including the development of Gwadar Liquefying Facility and construction of a pipeline between Gwadar and Nawabshah. The Russian ambassador said that the Pakistan-Russia Intergovernmental Commission’s meeting would take place in Moscow Nov 26, which would give new impetus to the bilateral economic cooperation. He said bilateral trade volume of the two countries did not coincide with the actual potential and plenty of room existed which needed to be tapped.