ISLAMABAD: Russia seems to be the new buzzword among foreign policy circles. At least, that was the impression participants at a conference on national security got after two days of exhaustive discussions about Pakistan`s security objectives and strategic interests.

The idea of forming an alliance with Russia, while not new, has not been in currency for some time. Perhaps this was why many of those who came to the Institute of Strategic Studies on Wednesday looked like they needed more convincing before they could begin propagating an alliance with the other big power in the region, after China.

On the second day of panel discussions, the Russian cause was championed by Pakistan`s former envoy to Moscow, Khalid Khattak. He painted an extremely rosy picture, talking about drawing energy from resource-rich Central Asian States as well as Russia itself; potential for defence and defence production collaborations; as well as the possibility of joint schemes with Russian industry, which he said had the experience of executing mega infrastructure projects on a vast scale.

The ambassador also listed areas of convergence with Russia, citing nuclear technology for civilian use and space technology which hesaid was something of a forte for the country that put the first man in space as areas where Pakistan stood to gain a lot.

But the envoy gingerly admitted that Russia did currently have problems with the West, particularly in terms of the conflict in the Ukraine.

He then made the argument that Pakistan and Russia had similar views on matters such as outside interference in the state`s affairs, democracy and human rights. `Democracy, in the third world is, at best, a procedural system, he said, to the chagrin and amusement of some ofthosein attendance.

A military officer present at the event noted privately after the talk that the ambassador had missed the most important `convergence` of all: the trade of illegal narcotics from Afghanistan into Russia.

He contended that this was Russia`s primary strategic interest when it came to Pakistan and, if anything, the first overtures towards friendship with Russia should include some kind of movement on this issue as well. This, he contended, would address not only Russia`s problems but also mitigate Pakistan`s troubles with militant groups who banlcroll their operations through drug money.

Mr Khattak also spolce about `The India Factor`, explaining how in initial pacts with India, the Soviet Union was clearly the senior partner. But after the collapse of the USSR, when the two countries solemnised agreements in 2003, both signed on equal footing, he said, ostensibly building a case for continued Pakistani interaction with Russia on unequalfooting,in the hope that the relationship might stand on level ground sometime in the future.He also pointed out that since India had stopped buying armaments exclusively from Russia and been looking westward to the US and Israel, Pakistan should take advantage of the situation. `Russia is looking to diversif y and this is the right time to do business with the federation,` he said.

Talking about Russia`s perspective on terrorism and the question of Pakistan being in India`s view a state exporting terror, he said that Russian maturity was evidenced by the fact that then-president Dmitry Medvedev, who visited India days after the 26/11 Mumbai attacks, refused to point accusatory fingers towards Pakistan even though the Western media was doing the same.

`Afghanistan has come to define Pakistan`s relationship with the US as well as Russia,` he said and went on to say that no matter how advanced modern technology had become, geography was still paramount in terms of strategic planning.

`American forces in Afghanistan are going to leave a royal mess and we will be the ones who have to clean it up,` he said, adding that Pakistan would do well to cement ties with Russia at this point.

Senior journalist Ejaz Haider, who had talked about the Gerasimov doctrine on Tuesday, told Dawn that Pakistan`s overtures towards Russia had begun during the Musharraf era.

`The mistake then was being too eager to get our hands on Russian armaments, which we couldn`t have acquired anyway, being a Category D country then,` he said. Now, following the signing of a number of landmark accords, Pakistan has been awarded Category B, making it eligible for arms deals with Russia. `An alli-ance with Russia is not a pipe dream, but there is a lot of baggage from the past,` he said.

But not everyone brought into the pro-Russia narrative, which was also put touched upon by Defence Minister Khawaja Asif in his inaugural address at the conference a day earlier.

A political science professor who was present during the discussion told Dawn that it wasunfeasible to talk about shifting loyalties completely from the US to Russia.

He said that Paksitan had made its choice long ago and to renege on it now would only further deepen Western suspicion. `Putin isn`t the most popular man in that West right now and Islamabad should make foreign policy decisions in this context.