An interview with IRNA on the sidelines of 9th International Maritime Conference, Commodore (retd) Ali Abbas said it is an honor for Pakistan Navy to host the Iranian military delegation at the Aman-21 multinational exercise, and their presence is another opportunity to acknowledge the historical and fraternal relations of the government and people of Pakistan with the government and people of the Islamic Republic of Iran.
He said the main theme of this exercise is to sit together, work out common strategies against the common challenges, common threats that are faced by littoral nations.
The official added there is every potential that Iran and Pakistan work together for blue growth and sustainable development of the blue economy for mutual benefits, for the shared future.
“We are historic friends, we are neighbors and future is common for Iran and Pakistan and their participation in Aman-21 exercise speaks a lot. It is a great pleasure it is a great honor for Pakistan, Pakistan Navy, and for the people of Pakistan to host the Iranian contingent and I am sure this will be a stepping stone for our future endeavors,” said Commodore (retd) Ali Abbas.
He added there is a need to be more future interaction with Iran, navy to navy and other forces, there has to be intelligence sharing and there have to be things at respective sides that must be ensured and there should be more frequent interaction that we can look forward to.
“Historically, traditionally Pakistan and Iran are the brother countries and we have rich common historical traditions and heritage,” said Director, National Institute of Maritime Affairs (NIMA).
He said there are no factors that could be brought which say that Pakistan and Iran have any differences rather all the indicators show that they have been working together.
"The geography unites us, the history unites us, the religion unites us and sea unites us so there is a need to work together, support each other, we share the coastline, Chabahar and Gwadar are the sister ports and we should develop them in such a way that they should be mutually complementing and it is the shared future of western Indian Ocean region," said the official.
The 9th International Maritime Conference began in the port city of Karachi on Saturday with the participation of the military delegation of the Islamic Republic of Iran and high-ranking Pakistani political-military officials.
Commodore Ariya Shafghat Rodsari, head of the delegation of General Staff of the Armed Forces of Iran, and Colonel Mostafa Ghanbarpour military attaché of the Islamic Republic of Iran attended the conference.
The two-day conference is being held on the sidelines of the multinational exercise "Aman-21" hosted by the Pakistani Navy with the presence of delegations from 45 countries, including Iran.
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