Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian visited Pakistan to take part in the 17th emergency meeting of the council of Foreign Ministers of the member-states of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) in Islamabad in December.
This was his first visit to Pakistan after assuming the charge of the Foreign Minister.
Simultaneously with this trip, the leaders of Iran and Pakistan who do not miss any opportunity to meet and renew friendly relations between the two neighboring countries also met on the occasion.
Despite the Corona pandemic, there were no obstacles to the face-to-face consultations of high-ranking Iranian and Pakistani officials.
In September the Prime Minister of Pakistan Imran Khan met with President of Iran Ebrahim Raisi on the sidelines of 21st summit of Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit in Dushanbe, Tajikistan.
In December, President of Pakistan Arif Alvi met with Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi on the sidelines of 15th Summit of Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO) in Ashgabat.
At the same time, Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi traveled to dozens of different countries in 2021, but Iran was the only country where he went three times. This also indicates the special and strategic importance of the relations betweenTehran and Islamabad.
In the month of October Chief of Staff of the Iranian Armed Forces Major-General Mohammad Bagheri paid his second official visit to Pakistan. General Bagheri heading a high-level military, security and defense delegation visited the cities of Islamabad and Karachi to meet with senior political and military officials in the eastern neighborhood.
In April during the visit of Pakistani Foreign Minister to Iran a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on trade development was inked between the two countries with the opening of third official border crossings at Pishin-Mand with the presence of officials of the two countries.
Developments in Afghanistan and the Taliban's takeover of Kabul in mid-August reinforced the importance of ongoing consultations with Afghanistan's neighbors, and Shah Mahmood Qureshi made his second visit to Iran to discuss the situation with Iranian officials.
In the same year Pakistan Chief of Naval Staff Admiral Muhammad Amjad Khan Niazi visited Iran while Pakistani naval vessels also visited Iran and held a joint exercise with the Navy of the Islamic Republic of Iran during their stay in Bandar Abbas.
In August, Chairman of Pakistani Senate Muhammad Sadiq Sanjrani visited Iran on behalf of Prime Minister Imran Khan to attend the swearing-in ceremony of Ebrahim Raisi.
In November Adviser to Prime Minister of Pakistan for Commerce and Investment Abdul Razak Dawood visited Iran. During the visit, the ninth meeting of the Iran-Pakistan Joint Trade Committee was held and the parties signed a memorandum of understanding to expand trade and trade cooperation, in particular to advance barter trade.
The exchange of high-level delegations between Iran and Pakistan continued throughout the year 2021.
In October Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister for Political Affairs, Ali Bagheri Kani visited Pakistan to participate in 11th Session of Iran-Pakistan Bilateral Political Consultations (BPC). During the visit he also met with Foreign Minister of Pakistan Shah Mahmood Qureshi.
The head of Iran's Anti-Narcotics Police Brigadier-General Majid Karimi paid a four-day visit to Pakistan at the invitation of his Pakistani counterpart, and in the last days of 2021, Pakistan hosted Dr. Amir Abdullahian, Minister of Foreign Affairs.
In December 2021 alone, various delegations traveled between the two neighboring countries, including the visit of the Chief of Intelligence Police of the Iranian Police Force to Pakistan, the visit of the Director General of Anti-Narcotics Force to Tehran at the invitation of his Iranian counterpart, the visit of Secretary General of the World Forum for Proximity of Islamic Schools of Thought Hojjatoleslam Hamid Shahriari.
Positive and promising achievements of the interactions between the two close neighbors and the brother of Iran and Pakistan in 2021, include development of border infrastructure, increase joint crossings, setting up build border markets, remove barriers to trade, streamline trade and pilgrimage, launch of direct flights between the two countries and the resumption of the ECO container train after a 10-year hiatus and the shared vision of opening two more new crossings.
During 2021 several delegations from Iran and Pakistan visited each other countries so that the two governments and two friendly and brotherly nations can further boost long-standing and fraternal relations.
In the year 2021 activation of joint border markets and opening of two new crossings between Iran and Pakistan remained on the agenda of the governments of the two countries.
Pakistan's foreign minister during a news conference on the country's foreign policy achievements over the past year said Pakistan's relations with the Islamic Republic of Iran grew in the year 2021 with regular interactions at the highest level.
Recalling his three official visits to Iran in 2021, Qureshi added relations between the two neighboring countries are rooted in religious, historical, cultural and geographical commonalities, and last year the leaders of Iran and Pakistan met in regional forums bilaterally.
Maleeha Lodhi a well-known Pakistani diplomat and former Permanent Representative to the United Nations said Pakistan must enhance its relations with Iran with close consultation on regional issues especially Afghanistan.
She said the recent barter agreement is a step in the right direction. Relations with Iran too should be strengthened with close consultation on regional issues especially Afghanistan. The recent barter agreement is a step in the right direction.
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