By Nusrat Mirza
The Russia-Ukraine conflict is going on since February 2022 and has become serious for the world as it could take any shape at any time. Pakistan has been under pressure since its beginning and Imran Khan Pakistan’s prime Minister was in Moscow when this war was started. The west was furious that Imran Khan did not postpone his trip to Moscow as the invasion started. Dozens of western TV anchors asked this question with Imran Khan. He has given reasons to satisfy them but the never-ending mantra has been still going on, though his government also changed. If we glance over Pakistan-Ukraine relations are foreign relations between Pakistan and Ukraine. Pakistan recognized Ukraine’s independence in 1991. Diplomatic relations between both countries were established in 1992. However, Pakistan and Ukraine relations were first established before Ukrainian independence from the Soviet Union. In recent years, Pakistan had developed close economic and military ties with Ukraine. Pakistan also supports Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity. Pakistan has an embassy in Kyiv. Ukraine has an embassy in Islamabad and honorary consulates in Karachi and Lahore. Ukraine and Pakistan have been cooperating with each other in educational sectors as well as cultural exchanges. Pakistan and Ukraine also heavily cooperate with each other in aerospace engineering, aerospace technologies, bio-medical sciences, and science and technology. Also, Pakistan buying some lightweight tanks in the past. On 24 February 2022, Imran Khan then Prime Minister of Pakistan visited Moscow with the consensus of the foreign office and establishment, Moscow did attack Ukraine. Imran Khan while in Moscow faced difficulty having little time to decide whether to leave Moscow without meeting Russian President Vladimir Putin or stay and complete the visit in the normal way. Imran Khan before meeting Putin gave a statement that the use of force against any country is no solution. Any dispute should be resolved through negotiations. The west including the USA took this visit very badly. Joe Biden the President of the USA avoided talking to Imran Khan as Imran Khan has good relations with Donald Trump. The visit to Moscow by Imran khan favored the west. It seems that it was part of the plan to remove Imran Khan from the post of Prime Minister. Putin knowingly or unknowing became part of this regime change. Or perhaps Putin would like to bring in Russian Camp or create hatred against USA among the people of Pakistan. I think he succeeded partly in his well thought plan. There was full-fledged campaign launched by Imran Khan against USA. The tone of Imran Khan’s speeches against America is mild now realizing the importance American influence in Pakistan’s affairs. The other reason could be that he did not get enough support from Russia and China. He went of explaining through western media that he had no time to meditate on what to do. But the west did not accept his explanation. The United States of America went on pressurizing Pakistan. The President of the United States of America Joe Biden a terrible hard-liner said that Pakistan having a nuclear arsenal is a dangerous country. Pakistan’s rebuttal was sharp and strong. Pakistan’s nuclear assets are safe than any other country in the world. Pakistan has no record of any nuclear incident, no record of proliferation. Any such issue was resolved to the satisfaction of the world and the IAEA. American state department tried to control the damage and the impact of the US president’s statement. Now, a feeler has been released that Pakistan supports Ukraine in Nuclear affairs which is completely baseless and misguiding. It seems that the World Power which would like to maintain its primacy over the world would like to pressurize Pakistan from different angles. Pakistan has not provided any nuclear support to Saudi Arabia which is very friendly to Pakistan why it would provide help to Ukraine in the nuclear field to annoy Russia? In fact, Pakistan has been trying to maintain good relations with Russia and trying to maintain stronger relations with SCO countries, and buy cheaper oil from Russia.