Russia's Medvedev talks terrorism, drug trade with Afghanistan, Pakistan leaders

"Of course the struggle against terrorism should take precedence," Ivanov said in May, "but what about liquidating drug production? How does it happen that almost 10 years after NATO occupied this country, Afghanistan is not only the world's largest producer of opium, but also of hashish, surpassing the traditional global leader, Morocco?"

There are at least 2 million heroin addicts in Russia, put some put the estimate as high as 6 million.

For his part, Afghan President Hamid Karzai seemed receptive to Medvedev’s message, inviting the Russian leader to visit him in Afghanistan “as quickly as possible and when [Medvedev’s] busy schedule allows,” reports Russia’s RIA Novosti.

To date, Russia’s main support for NATO and US operations in Afghanistan has come in the form of allowing railway shipments of non-lethal goods to pass through it’s territory and allowing planes carrying weapons to Afghanistan to pass through its airspace. The Associated Press reports that NATO has been pressuring Russia to provide helicopters and flight training to Afghanistan, which Russia appears increasingly willing to do following the conference.

If Russia does begin selling helicopters to Afghanistan, UPI reports that it will present a rather “ironic” turn of events, as only 30 years ago Russia depended heavily on its air superiority in Afghanistan to battle the Mujahideen.

Meanwhile, helping Pakistan regain stability following flooding may also prove critical to Russia’s interests in the region. Already there is concern that militant groups within Pakistan are using the floods as an opportunity to garner support among the population by providing aid to flood victims, reports The Wall Street Journal.

In talks with Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari, Medvedev promised that Russia would continue to provide “all possible support to Pakistan,” reports the Times of India. A second cargo plane of aid for flood victims will arrive in Pakistan tomorrow.

“This is a severe disaster which caused many deaths and unfortunately brought great damage. We mourn with you and are ready to provide assistance to the Pakistani people. You can count on us," Medvedev said in the Times of India. “We would like to continue cooperating in fighting terrorism, drug trafficking and international crimes.”

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