PATRIOT PARK / Moscow Region/, August 14. /TASS/. Russian Deputy Defense Minister Alexander Fomin met on Monday with visiting Pakistani First Deputy Defense Minister Hamood uz Zaman Khan.

The meeting took place on the sidelines of the Army 2023 international forum.

"We highly assess our cooperation within the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, which is becoming one of the important Eurasian organizations enjoying considerable political weight in the present-day system of international relations. Bilateral meetings in recent years have helped expand contacts between the Russian and Pakistani defense ministries, between all types of armed forces, and between the general staffs," Fomin said during the meeting.

The sides positively assessed the dynamically developing and mutually beneficial relations in the sphere of defense and reiterated their commitment to use the existing potential to further expand cooperation.

The Pakistani first deputy defense minister, in turn, hailed the effective cooperation between the two countries’ defense ministries and expressed the hope that it will be continued.

The Army-2023 International Military-Technical Forum is taking place at the Patriot Congress and Exhibition Center, the Alabino shooting range and the Kubinka airfield on August 14-20. About 1,500 leading Russian defense enterprises will take part in the forum’s exhibition and business program. As many as 85 foreign companies and organizations from seven countries plan to participate in the forum. The event is being organized by the Russian Defense Ministry. TASS is its strategic media partner.