Pakistan envisions strengthening ties with Iran in diverse fields

Muhammad Faisal at his weekly news briefing in Islamabad on Thursday said Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi visited Iran on 24th December where he had detailed discussions with Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad-Javad Zarif on strengthening the already close bilateral relations rooted in common history, culture and people-to-people ties and reaffirmed to increase cooperation.

He said that regional issues especially the issue of peace and reconciliation in Afghanistan, were also discussed.

He added that Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi has visited four regional countries, including Iran, China, Afghanistan and Russia from December 24 -26. 'The visit was part of government’s policy of outreaching in the neighborhood,” he said.

The spokesperson said during the visit foreign minister discussed Pakistan’s bilateral relations with the senior leaders of these countries to strengthen cooperation in various areas.

“Such cooperation is a key to unleashing Pakistan’s considerable potential and expanding mutually beneficial economic cooperation and development,” he viewed.

Muhammad Faisal added that in last leg of his visit Pakistan foreign minister arrived in Russia and held detailed talks with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on various bilateral and regional issues. He also expressed government of Pakistan's desire to forge a long-term, multidimensional partnership and friendship with Russia.

“The Ministers agreed to continue efforts, including through Moscow Format of Consultations, for supporting reconciliation under an Afghan-led and Afghan-owned peace process,” noted the official.

The spokesperson expressing his views said recent developments concerning Afghan peace process were also discussed. “It was underlined that being the most important stakeholders, Pakistan and Russia had shared interests and concerns in Afghanistan and had the common goal of supporting all efforts to restore peace and stability in the country,” he said.

He went on to say that both leaders also underscored the need to harmonise various regional approaches for developing a regional consensus on various issues.

Muhammad Faisal said the visit was essentially part of government's policy to strengthen relations with all neighbors and regional countries.

He added as part of the same effort the Foreign Minister will also visit Qatar soon. The spokesperson said Pakistan's longstanding position to give peace and reconciliation a real chance in Afghanistan has become the basis for an international consensus.

He said recent developments in Afghanistan which include Moscow Format Consultations, Geneva conference on Afghanistan and the Abu Dhabi meeting have all led to this widely acknowledged agreement.

Muhammad Faisal said the new opening in Afghanistan and willingness of all countries who agree on Pakistan's important role as facilitator, has provided a significant opportunity to also strengthen our bilateral relations with all the neighbors especially for promotion of trade, economic and people to people linkages.

The official said this shuttle diplomacy also provided an opportunity to listen to views of the leadership in these countries for promoting a joint regional approach in Afghanistan and explore realistic possibilities of regional integration in economic terms.

He noted that the purpose of Foreign Minister's whirlwind visit was two-fold including strengthening of regional consensus on Afghanistan that is the key for medium to long-term stability of an Afghan-led and Afghan-owned solution to exploring possibilities of win-win framework for regional connectivity and economic development to help achieve the ultimate objective of economic growth and prosperity in the region.

He added that China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) is an economic project between China and Pakistan and is not against any other country.

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