Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif on Sunday held a telephone call with Iranian President Ibrahim Raisi and lauded Tehran and the supreme leader’s “firm support” for Pakistan on the Kashmir issue.
During the talks, the two leaders also exchanged Eid greetings and views on bilateral relations.
For his part, PM Shahbaz underscored the importance of “historic ties” between Pakistan and Iran, which he defined by “geographic proximity, shared history and mutual understanding”.
The Prime Minister reaffirmed his government’s “strong commitment” to promoting bilateral relations with Iran in all areas of mutual cooperation, including trade, energy, power and people-to-people contacts.
He told the Iranian president that the earliest convening of a joint economic commission between Pakistan and Iran would “strengthen the economic ties between the two countries”.
PM Shahbaz further expressed hope that the border subsistence market along the Pakistan-Iran borders would be operational soon – a development which he said would “facilitate livelihoods in the border region”.
PM also thanked Iranian leadership for “timely support and” Lender Il-76 aircraft Pakistan to “extinguish forest fires in Balochistan in May”.
He also appreciated Iran’s cooperation in facilitating Pakistani pilgrims every year and stressed the importance of “enhancing people-to-people exchanges”.
In return, President Raisi thanked PM Shahbaz for the Eid greetings and assured him of Iranian cooperation to “accelerate bilateral trade”, particularly with regard to the provision of electricity to Balochistan’s Makran division.
Both the dignitaries also invited each other to visit each other’s countries.
Iranian state news agency IRNA Cited Raisi added: “The Islamic Republic of Iran attaches great importance to its relations with Pakistan.”
In a telephone conversation, Raisi stated that “the current level of Tehran-Islamabad relations is not commensurate with the diverse capabilities of the two countries”, and that “Iran is ready to expand bilateral ties, especially in the energy and agricultural sectors.” In”.
“Regular holding of the Joint Commission for Economic Cooperation will pave the way for raising the level of relations between the two countries,” the Iranian president said. Pakistan”.