In the first day after the Iranian Parliament approved a proposed cabinet of President Ebrahim Raisi, the Pakistani FM started his regional tour arriving in Tehran on Thursday to hold talks with top Iranian officials including the president and Iran’s new Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian.
Qureshi told the Nation daily that he plans to visit four neighboring states of Iran, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan in a bid to consult with officials of these countries on recent developments in Afghanistan and Taliban’s taking power in the war-stricken country.
Saeed Khatibzadeh, spokesman of the Foreign Ministry of Iran, said already that this trip will be held upon a request made by the Pakistani foreign minister himself, and that the main topic of the visit will be issues of mutual interests as well as developments in Afghanistan.
Heading a diplomatic delegation, Qureshi focused on Afghanistan, which has been turned into the issue of concern among regional and ultra-regional players these days.
However, the Pakistani and Iranian sides have found a good opportunity to discuss the ways to strengthen bilateral relationships, as President Raisi expressed dissatisfaction with the current economic exchanges between the two neighboring states, calling for expansion of trade ties based on appropriate programs and in line with interests of both nations.
The Pakistani FM also described relations between the two countries as historic and deep, noting that Islamabad is keen on enhancing and consolidating economic and political ties with Iran.
Trade exchanges between Pakistan and Iran stood at more than 700 million dollars in the last Iranian year (March 21, 2020 to March 20, 2021).
Aside from Pakistan-Iran cooperation in energy sector, the potential extension of railroad links can help increase the mutual trade to five billion dollars per annum.
1424
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