Regional nations should foil enemy plots

In a meeting with the visiting Pakistani Senate Chairman Farooq H. Naik in Tehran on Thursday, President Ahmadinejad called for enhanced cooperation between Tehran and Islamabad, saying that expansion of bilateral ties would be beneficial to both nations and will also have valuable outcomes for the region.

“The existing problems in the region have always been imposed on the nations from outside by the foreigners, because the regional nations always lived together through thick and thin for hundreds of years and in a peaceful atmosphere,” the IRI President said in the meeting.

Ahmadinejad also placed heavy emphasis on the need for further expansion of cooperation among the countries of the region, adding that the regional nations should ramp up their cooperation and thwart the enemies’ plots by introducing the truth and glory of their cultures.

President Ahmadinejad noted that international issues need to be resolved through humane methods instead of military means, and that Tehran and Islamabad can play a key role in promotion of such principles.

The Chairman of Pakistan’s Senate, for his part, said that the two nations share common history, culture and religion, emphasizing that Pakistan’s government and Senate have put the expansion of ties with Iran high on the agenda.

‘The Islamic Republic of Iran is a key player in bringing about peace, stability and progress in the region,’ Naik stated.

Earlier on Thursday, IRI Foreign Minister Ali-Akbar Salehi met with the Pakistani Senate Chairman as the two officials stressed the importance of realizing the two countries’ potential to increase trade.

In the meeting, Salehi offered Pakistan to join the Ashgabat five-party agreement, which establishes a Central Asia-Persian Gulf transit corridor. He also said the two countries can establish a joint security commission.

Secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council Saeed Jalili also held talks with Naik, while making a reference to the ongoing revolutions in the region against a backdrop of interventions by the United States.

Jalili noted that the US is seeking to prolong its presence in the region by dint of generating crises incessantly.

He also urged Tehran and Islamabad to devise a comprehensive plan for cooperation at regional and international levels.