ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s Chairman of Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee, Gen Nadeem Raza, held talks with Russia’s Chief of General Staff, Gen Valery V. Gerasimov, on Saturday where the two discussed bilateral and defense ties and the security situation in the region.

General Raza, who is on a two-day visit to Russia for a conference on Defense and Security Cooperation, will also participate in the closing ceremony of the ‘International Military Games – 2020’, Pakistan’s military media wing, the ISPR, said in a statement on Saturday.

Pakistan Armed Forces (PAF) have been regularly participating in the games for the past three years.

General Gerasimov, for his part, “lauded the professionalism” of PAF and acknowledged “Pakistan’s sacrifices in its fight against terrorism,” the statement added.

Pakistan and Russia have been deepening their military cooperation over the past few years with Moscow lifting a longstanding arms embargo in 2015.

A year later, in August 2015, Russia agreed to sell four Mi-35M attack helicopters to Pakistan, while the two countries have been conducting joint military exercises since 2016.