Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian says Iran faces no limits in developing its ties with Pakistan, noting that Islamabad enjoys a special place in Tehran’s foreign policy affairs.
The top diplomat made the remarks on Saturday, meeting in Tehran with the visiting Foreign Secretary of Pakistan, Asad Majeed Khan.
Amir-Abdollahian appraised the current status of the bilateral relations as favorable and oriented towards further development. He also commended the standing level of Iran’s bilateral and international cooperation with Pakistan.
The Iranian foreign minister pointed to the history of the countries’ ties, saying the relations boasted many instances of commonality, and urging both countries to exploit all available capacities towards further enrichment of the relations.
Iran’s Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian meets with the visiting Foreign Secretary of Pakistan, Asad Majeed Khan, and his delegation in Tehran on Saturday, June 17, 2023.
Amir-Abdollahian referred to a recent meeting that took place between Iranian President Ebrahim Raeisi and Pakistan’s Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif, during which the officials inaugurated two important border projects, saying Pakistan functioned as an important link in Iran’s political dealings with its neighbors.
For his part, the Pakistani official conveyed Sharif’s regards to Amir-Abdollahian, providing the latter with a report on the contents of the latest round of political consultations between the countries.
Khan considered the consultations to be of strategic importance to the further development of the countries’ relations, laying emphasis on the importance of additional expansion of the ties.
The official, meanwhile, presented Amir-Abdollahian with an invitation extended by Pakistani Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto for the Iranian foreign minister to visit Pakistan.
Over the recent years, Tehran and Islamabad have been working towards enhancing their relations, especially their bilateral economic ties and their mutual efforts at combating terrorism in the areas that straddle the common border.
Pakistan was Iran’s fifth largest export market in the previous Iranian calendar year (which ended on March 20), importing non-oil products worth $1.488 billion from Iran.
Iran imported non-oil goods worth $842 million from Pakistan last year, up 170 percent from the previous year.
