Islamabad, July 5, IRNA -- Prime Minister of Pakistan Imran Khan has reaffirmed Pakistan’s commitment to strengthen relations with Iran in diverse fields, including people-to-people exchanges, a PM House statement said.

He said this during a meeting with Iranian delegation led by Iranian Minister for Industry, Mines and Trade Reza Rahmani at Prime Minister’s Office on Friday.

Iran-Pakistan bilateral relations and the progress being made towards optimally realizing the trade potential between the two countries were discussed during the meeting.

The Prime Minister welcomed the Iranian delegation and observed that geographical proximity and close brotherly ties, rooted in historical, cultural and religious commonalities, offered huge potential to enhance mutual trade and economic cooperation for the benefit of the people of two countries.

The Prime Minister underlined the need for the two countries to take concrete measures for addressing the issue of smuggling and providing the people, especially those residing at Pak-Iran border, with increased business opportunities.

The Iranian Minister while conveying greetings from the Iranian leaders to the Prime Minister said that the Prime Minister’s visit to Iran has provided momentum to the efforts aimed at cementing bilateral relations, especially trade and economic ties.

He expressed great satisfaction over the progress being made by Pakistan-Iran Joint Trade Committee in removing obstacles in the way to enhancing mutual trade.

Yazdan Saif, Deputy Minister of Agriculture, Ramezan Ali Sobhani Far, Member of Parliament, Abdolhakim Rigi, the head of Zahedan Chamber of Commerce, Industries, Mines & Agriculture and Iran Ambassador Mehdi Honardoost were accompanying the Iranian Industry Minister.

Minister for Maritime Affairs Syed Ali Haider Zaidi, Adviser Commerce Abdul Razzak Dawood, Chairman Board of Investment (BOI) Zubair Gillani, Secretary Commerce Ahmed Nawaz Sukhera were also present during the meeting.

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