Islamabad: Pakistan and Iran, Thursday, reiterated firm resolve for
boosting mutual coordination to face common challenges facing the two
countries including countering terrorism, drugs and narcotics control
and human trafficking.
The two sides also agreed to put in place
effective arrangements and better coordination between the border
control authorities to prevent violent incidents on the borders.
In
a between President Asif Ali Zardari with his visiting Iranian
counterpart Mahmoud Ahmadinejad at Aiwan-e- Sadr both the of the two
leaders held wide ranging discussion on bilateral, regional and
international issues.
President Asif Ali Zardari has called for
enhancing bilateral cooperation between Pakistan and Iran for promoting
peace, stability and economic progress of the peoples of the region in
general and of the two countries in particular.
Briefing the
media, Spokesperson to the President Mr. Farhatullah Babar said that
during a one-on-one meeting followed by delegation level talks on the
sidelines of trilateral summit here at the Presidency, the two leaders
held wide ranging discussion on bilateral, regional and international
issues. The spokesperson said that the President recalled his previous
four visits to Iran and said that Pakistan attaches great importance to
its fraternal ties with Iran, deeply rooted in our historical, cultural
and religious commonalities.
The President welcomed Iranian
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and expressed hope that his visit to
Pakistan on the occasion of trilateral Summit provided immense
opportunity for the two countries to further bolster bilateral
cooperation in diverse areas particularly trade, energy, security,
communication and infrastructure. The spokesperson said that rail and
road links between the two countries, energy projects, the early
realization of IP gas pipeline, and other projects of regional
connectivity were also discussed during the meeting. The President
reiterated commitment for expeditious implementation of Iran-Pakistan
Gas Pipeline Project ,1000 MW electricity transmission line and 100 MW
Gwadar power supply in order to meet the country’s growing demand for
energy and power. He said that enhancing bilateral cooperation
particularly in energy and infrastructure would help the two countries
to overcome the challenges in the way of realization of full existing
potential of their relations and realize the goal of raising the
bilateral trade to $ 5 billion target which he said was feasible. The
President proposed for considering encouraging barter and trading in
local currencies between the two countries besides removing tariff and
non tariff barriers. The President said that Pakistan and Iran could
trade in Wheat, Fertilizers, Cement and other commodities to the mutual
benefit. The Spokesperson said that the President emphasized on
promoting interactions in education sector between the two countries and
suggested that the Old Persian literature should be translated into
Pakistani languages so that our younger people learnt more about the
cultural and historical linkages between the two countries. The
President thanked the Iranian government for the relief assistance for
the rehabilitation of flood affectees in Pakistan. The President said
that Pakistan and Iran face a common menace of drug trafficking across
their borders and expressed the hope that initiatives and mechanism on
both sides would help counter narcotics trafficking in the region. The
Spokesperson said that the President said that the trilateral summit
provided a useful forum for coordination on Afghanistan and expressed
optimism about the positive outcome of the summit. He also thanked
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and his government’s efforts for
attending the important summit. The Iranian President Mahmoud
Ahmadinejad thanked the President and Pakistan’s government for the warm
welcome and appreciated the role Pakistan was playing in promotion of
regional stability and peace and for its keen interest in further
strengthening existing cordial equation with Iran. Mr. Ahmadinejad said
Pakistan was an important neighbor for Iran and assured continued
support and assistance of his government in all sectors.
From
Pakistan side, the delegation level meeting was attended among others
by Chaudhry Ahmad Mukhtar, defence Minister, Ms. Hina Rabbani Khar,
Minister for Foreign Affairs, Senator A. Rehman Malik, Federal Minister
for Interior, Makhdoom Shahab-ud-Din, Federal Minister for Textile
Industries, Dr. Asim Hussain, advisor to Prime Minister on Petroleum,
Syed Naveed Qamar, Minister for Water & Power, Haji Ghulam Ahmad
Bilour, Federal Minister for Railways, Mr. Salman Bashir, foreign
Secretary, Spokesperson to the President Mr. Farhatullah Babar, Khalid
Aziz Babar, Pakistan’s ambassador to Iran and other senior officials.
While
Iranian side included among others Mr. Ali Akbar Salehi, foreign
minister, Mr. Asfandyar Mashaei, advisor & head of President’s
office, Mr. Hameed Baghaie, vice President, Mr. Lraghchi, Deputy Asia
& pacific affairs, Mr. Alireza Haghighian, Iranian ambassador in
Pakistan , President’s staff and other senior officials of Iranian
embassy . Online
