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 By Fatima Sheikh, Counsellor at the Embassy of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan to the Russian FederationSometimes 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 scenesOn 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 Af...