Ahmadinejad to Visit Pakistan Late November for D8 Summit

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad will visit Pakistan next week to attend a summit meeting of the group of eight Muslim developing countries (D8) on November 22.

“The president has been officially invited by (his Pakistani counterpart) Asif Ali Zardari and will travel to Pakistan on November 22 to take part in the D8 summit,” the Head of the president’s International Affairs Office Mohammad Reza Forghani told FNA on Monday.

He said Ahmadinejad also plans to explore avenues for the further expansion of economic cooperation between Iran and Pakistan during his trip.

Forghani also added that the final planning for the trip has not been made yet and change in the president’s itinerary is still possible.

The Developing-8 is a group of developing countries with large Muslim populations that have formed an economic development alliance. It consists of Bangladesh, Egypt, Indonesia, Iran, Malaysia, Nigeria, Pakistan, and Turkey.

The D-8 was founded by Necmettin Erbakan, former Turkish Prime Minister. The group was established after an announcement in Istanbul, Turkey on June 15, 1997. Membership is open to countries other than the current member-states, though no expansion is currently planned.

The D8 summit is held annually with the aim of exchanging views among the member states.