Council of the Republic approves the bill on ratifi cation of the agreement between Belarus and Pakistan on military-technical cooperation

On 9 December, 2015 a meeting of the 10th session of the Council of Republic of the National Assembly of the 5th convocation was held. During it, the members of the Council of the Republic approved the bill «On Ratifi cation of the Agreement Between the Government of the Republic of Belarus and the Government of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan on Military-Technical Cooperation». It was presented by the First Deputy Chairman of Goscomvoyenprom Igor Bykov.
Belarus and Pakistan have already established a joint commission on military-technical cooperation, the fi rst meeting of which was held in Minsk in August 2015.
It is planned that meetings of the joint commission on military-technical cooperation will be held annually or within other timescale either in Belarus or in Pakistan in the framework of the Forum on Military-Technical Cooperation.
The agreement, signed on 29 May, 2015 in Islamabad, is the basis for the development of the legal framework of military-technical cooperation between the two countries, as well as it
creates favourable conditions for the defense companies of Belarus in the arms market of Pakistan.
The parties also agreed that the State Military Industrial Committee of Belarus would be an authorised body for the implementation of this agreement on the part of the Government of the Republic of Belarus, and on the part of the Government of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, it
would be the Ministry of Defense Industry of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan.
The agreement was signed for five years and will be automatically extended for the next fi ve years if neither party notifi es the other party of its intention to terminate the agreement no later than six months before its expiration.