Daily Times

Pakistan and Iran will inaugurate their 3rd border crossing, Pishin-Mand on Wednesday (today). The third official crossing between Iran and Pakistan will be inaugurated simultaneously with the visit of the Iranian Minister of Roads and Urban Development Mohammad Eslami to southern Iranian Sistan and Baluchestan province and with the presence of Pakistani officials.

Commutes between the two countries are done via Mirjaveh and Jaleq borders, presently.

The foreign ministers of Iran and Pakistan met on the sidelines of the International Heart of Asia Conference in Dushanbe, Tajikistan, on March 30 to discuss the latest developments in bilateral relations and stressed the need to increase bilateral trade, economic cooperation, and the development of border markets. The second official border crossing opened between Iran and Pakistan in December last year at Rimdan-Gabd with the presence of Iran’s Minister of Roads and Urban Development Mohammad Eslami, and Pakistan’s Minister of Defence production Zobaida Jalal and other officials.

Setting up border markets with Iran is on Pakistan’s agenda. Earlier on Saturday last, Minister for Defence Production Zubaida Jalal said that steps would be taken to provide relief to the residents of Pak-Iran border areas of Balochistan. Talking to a delegation of local elders in Turbat, Zubaida Jalal said that the government has decided to establish border markets at the Pakistan-Iran border for legal start of trade at the places adjacent to the border.

The minister said the government is paying Rs1.5 million per acre for acquiring the land for establishing a border market at the places adjacent to the border corridors of Gabad area. Zubaida Jalal said with the establishment of the border market, the people of the border areas would avail trade facilities in a legal manner. She said that Prime Minister Imran Khan has approved the Southern Balochistan Package to alleviate the sense of deprivation of the people of the area and provide basic infrastructure facilities to them.