English-language website "Arab News" on Thursday quoted Sheikh Rashid Ahmad as saying the fencing of border with Iran is coming to an end.
The minister also said the fencing of the Pakistani border with Afghanistan is 89 percent complete.
Talking to Arab News, Rashid said infiltration, smuggling and many illegal activities are taking place without any check on the Pakistani borders with Afghanistan and Iran, now, after fencing, these things will be controlled.
“We are going to stop and close all the petrol pumps which are using smuggled oil,” the interior minister said. “One month back we started a drive against it and there is a very good response, but it will take some time to stop this,” he added.
Pakistan's relations with China are excellent and we will never forget the importance of these relations, he said, referring to regional developments, relations with Arab allies, including Saudi Arabia, and the emergence of new US administration.
He was hopeful Pakistan’s relations with the United States would improve under the new administration of Joe Biden but said Pakistan would aim to maintain ties with the US without compromising its close relations with long time ally, China, which has given Islamabad over $60 billion for the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor of energy and infrastructure projects.
Pakistan’s military spokesman during a news conference at the army headquarters in Rawalpindi last month said that the plan to fence the country's border with Iran was continuing, adding: "We have received very promising results from the joint border control and fencing project."
During his 11th official visit to Pakistan in November last year, Foreign Minister of Iran Mohammad Javad Zarif said that Iran was satisfied with the actions of Pakistan and its army to ensure security and guard the common borders.
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