TEHRAN, Iran: Pakistan’s Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif on Monday arrived in Tehran on a visit to Iran aimed at further enhancing bilateral cooperation across different sectors.
Upon his arrival at Tehran’s Mehrabad International Airport, PM Sharif was welcomed by Iranian Interior Minister Eskandar Momeni, according to Iranian state media.
A smartly turned out contingent of the Iranian army presented salute to the Prime Minister.
Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar, Chief of Army Staff Field Marshal Syed Asim Munir, Interior Minister Syed Mohsin Naqvi, Minister for Information and Broadcasting Attaullah Tarar and Special Assistant to the Prime Minister Syed Tariq Fatemi are accompanying the Prime Minister, Radio Pakistan reported.
The Prime Minister will visit Sa’dabad Palace in Tehran to meet Iranian President Dr Masoud Pezeshkian.
During the meeting, the Prime Minister will pay gratitude to the people and President of Iran for promoting bilateral cooperation, supporting Pakistan in the recent war imposed on Pakistan by India, and for their efforts for peace in South Asia.
The Prime Minister and his delegation will also meet with Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei and discuss bilateral and regional issues.
He is visiting Iran at the invitation of President Masoud Pezeshkian to discuss bilateral relations, as well as regional and international developments.
PM Sharif arrived in Iran after concluding his two-day visit to Turkiye. The purpose of the Prime Minister’s visit was to express gratitude to the people of Turkiye, and especially to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, for their strong support and cooperation during the recent Pakistan-India tensions.
Earlier, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said that the bilateral trade between Pakistan and Iran, which stood at $3 billion, would be taken to $10 billion in the next few years, as there was immense potential of growth.
In an interview with IRNA, the prime minister said the bilateral trade between the two countries had witnessed a significant increase in the past three to four years.
“We want to take it up to $10 billion in the next few years, but I think the potential is much larger than that as well. We are discussing signing a free trade agreement (FTA). I think in the next ten years, the trade volume between the two countries will expand a great deal. The need is to have sustained economic engagements for the long term between Pakistan and Iran,” the Iranian news wire quoted the prime minister as saying.
The prime minister, to a query, replied that he strongly believed that the economic destiny of both countries was interlinked as they shared a border of about 900 kilometres.
“I personally believe that a strong economic linkage between Pakistan’s Balochistan and Iran’s Sistan-Baluchestan can be good for the entire region. It can also be very effective in dealing with terrorism,” he added.
He further mentioned that the two countries had signed memoranda of understanding about developing projects between these provinces.
