Daily Times

Pakistan Iran Parliamentary Friendship Group Convener Senator Lt Gen Abdul Qayyum HI(M) on Monday observed that Pakistan had always reaffirmed that it would never be a party to Iran’s economic strangulation and any other measures to curb its growth.

“Iran was the first country to recognise Pakistan after it gained independence in 1947. Subsequently, Pakistan was the first country to recognise the new governance structure in Iran after the Iranian Revolution,” he said, chairing the maiden meeting of the group.

The meeting was attended among others by senators Walid Iqbal and Syed Muhammad Shah Ali Jamot, Iranian Ambassador Mehdi Honardoost, Dr Muhammad Aejaz from the Foreign Office and Mrs Sommayah from the Iranian Embassy.

The ambassador hoped that mutual cooperation would see new heights between the executive, parliament as well as the people. He remarked that people and the commonalities were the backbone of this relationship. The ambassador apprised the friendship group of the expectations of the Iranian side from the bilateral relationship. He said that many of the hurdles and problems come for Iran because of the fact that Iran supports adamantly the Palestinian cause. He said that Iran is not scared of sanctions and is one of the best in its defence. “Hard times pass away but bitter memories never leave.” He said Pakistan and Iran needed to activate all of their potentials for the betterment of bilateral relationship, including banking transactions. He said that all sanctions on Iran originated from United States, and not from any international organisation like the UNO or EU, and hence were not under any other binding.

He also said the gas Pakistan could get from the Iran-Pakistan Gas Pipeline would be 30% cheaper as compared to the gas Pakistan currently imported. “It can create jobs and reduce the gas shortage, among other benefits for Pakistan. He also touched upon the issue of initiating regular flights between Iran and Pakistan of the PIA and Mahan Air and working on the purchase of Mashaak aircraft from Pakistan. The matter of opening border points was also discussed.

Both sides agreed that steps should be taken for mutual interest of both countries. The convener and members of the friendship group observed that both Iran and Pakistan could not close their eyes on each other’s problems. Railway connectivity, easy transportation to visitors who go to Iran every year and cooperation between Gwadar and Chahbahar was also discussed. The ambassador appreciated the work of the Foreign Office in resolving many of the issues at the bilateral level.

Dr Muhammad Aejaz from the Foreign Office, while responding to the matters, raised that all of the issues were discussed at length before and during the prime minister’s visit to the Islamic Republic of Iran. He said that Pakistan had expressed intention to move ahead on all of the persisting issues between the two countries. He said that most of the issues were taking long to get through because of the financial constraints, and Adviser to Prime Minister on Commerce Abdur Razzak Dawood had now been tasked to take the lead. “An Iranian delegation will be coming to Pakistan and meetings of Joint Committee on Trade and Joint Economic Commission will be held to work on bilateral issues.” He said the recent high-level visit had been a singular success.

Members of the friendship group assured the ambassador that the issues discussed would be taken up by utilising all available instruments in the Senate and the forum of this group and the Senate as a whole would be fruitful to resolve the pending issues.