PM IMRAN KHAN ENVISIONS STRONG TIES WITH IRAN: FM QURESHI TELLS JAVAD ZARIF

  Tuesday, 25 December 2018

source: shiitenews

Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi arrived in Beijing on Tuesday morning as he has met counterparts in Tehran and Kabul visits yesterday to take regional countries on board about Pakistan's fresh push to jumpstart the Afghan reconciliation process.
In Tehran Qureshi and Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif met in Tehran to discuss bilateral and regional issues. According to Pakistan foreign ministry statement, Foreign Minister Qureshi reached Tehran on his first official visit to Iran on Monday along with Foreign Secretary and senior officials of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs as part of the government’s policy of outreach in the neighborhood.
“Foreign Minister held detailed talks with his Iranian counterpart on strengthening the already close bilateral relations rooted in common history, culture and people-to-people ties and reaffirmed to increase cooperation,” it added.
The statement further said Foreign Minister Qureshi elaborated that Prime Minister Imran Khan envisions strengthening ties with Iran in diverse fields with emphasis on expanding mutually beneficial economic cooperation and development.
“Foreign Minister Zarif reaffirmed Iran’s commitment to deepen relations with Pakistan in trade, investment, connectivity and border management,” said the statement.
“The two Foreign Ministers deliberated on recent developments concerning peace and reconciliation in Afghanistan and on the ways to strengthen cooperation in supporting an Afghan led and Afghan owned peace process,” it added.
The statement said Iran and Pakistan being the closest neighbors of Afghanistan, sharing the longest borders with Afghanistan, have important status and role in the Afghan peace process.
“Both countries were also central towards evolving a shared approach for long term economic progress and prosperity in the region. Afghanistan, Iran and Pakistan needed to work together as nobody else loses or gains more in this regard,” it said.