News Desk
ISLAMABAD: The Centre for Afghanistan, Middle East and Africa (CAMEA) at the Institute of Strategic Studies Islamabad (ISSI), in collaboration with the Embassy of the Islamic Republic of Iran, on Wednesday organized a special event on “76 Years of Pakistan-Iran Diplomatic Relations.”
Ambassador Sohail Mahmood, Director General, ISSI, Amina Khan, Director CAMEA, Sayed Mohammad Ali Hosseini, Ambassador of the Islamic Republic of Iran to Pakistan, Rahim Hayat Qureshi, Ambassador of Pakistan to Iran, Ehsan Khazaei, Cultural Counselor of the Embassy of Iran in Pakistan, Ambassador Riffat Masood, Pakistan’s Former Ambassador to Iran, Hosseini Ebrahim Khan, Chairman BOG ISSI, and Senior Fellow, IPIS Tehran and Ambassador Khalid Mahmood attended the event.
Amina Khan said that Pakistan-Iran ties were time-tested and based on mutual respect, bonds of brotherhood, and mutual support in tough times. The Treaty of Friendship inked between the two countries in 1950 reflects this close relationship.
She added that these ties were all-encompassing and that the interests of the two countries converged broadly, including in the fight against terrorism, on the situation in Afghanistan, and ties with China in the context of regional connectivity.
Peoples’ relations older than diplomatic ties
Speaking on the occasion, DG ISSI Ambassador Sohail Mahmood said that while Pakistan-Iran diplomatic ties were 76 years old, the relations between the people of both countries went back centuries, based on history and linguistic affinities, and immutable bonds of common faith. He said that the cultural dimension is most manifest, as could be seen in a strong Persian imprint on the civilizational heritage of Pakistan.
He further said that these ties were reinforced by a shared commitment to cement the relationship in its multiple aspects.
He added that the two sides’ mutual interests ranged from enhanced bilateral trade to energy cooperation to coordination on regional and international issues.
Ambassador Sayed Mohammad Ali Hosseini highlighted that the solidarity between the two fraternal countries was based on multiple linkages and commonalities which paved the way for stronger relations.
He said that the volume of trade exchanges between the two countries would reach more than two billion dollars this year.
Ambassador Rahim Hayat Qureshi mentioned that Iran and Pakistan enjoyed linguistic bonds, and the Persian language strongly influenced South Asia.
