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Islamabad, May 7, IRNA – Pakistan’s Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Raheel Sharif and Minister of Interior of Islamic Republic of Iran Abdolreza Rahmani Fazli in a meeting discussed matters of mutual interest including measures to improve security along Pakistan-Iran border.
The meeting was held on Tuesday at General Headquarters in the garrison city of Rawalpindi.
Iranian diplomats who were present in the meeting revealed to IRNA that General Raheel Sharif said that Iran is a great and powerful nation which has been playing an effective role in brining peace and stability in the region.
He said that cooperation which has started between the security forces of the two countries should be further strengthened.
He viewed that Iran and Pakistan for enhancing their convergence should increase bilateral cooperation in different sectors.
General Raheel Sharif strongly believed that progress and prosperity of Iran is very important for the countries of the region including Pakistan.
He said that Iran and Pakistan are cooperating a lot in combating terrorism and human and drug trafficking.
He was of the view that security forces of both countries must take strict action against the miscreants who are destabilizing the region.
Pakistan Army chief expressing his views over the high level interaction between Iran and Pakistan said that decisions taken in the meetings should be implemented as early as possible.
He expressed his gratitude to the senior Iranian security officials for extending him an invitation to visit Iran. He went on to say that for enhancing Iran-Pakistan military cooperation the senior Iranian security officials must also visit Pakistan.
Interior Minister of Iran Abdolreza Rahmani Fazli on the occasion thanked the Pakistan Army Chief for sparing his precious time for the meeting. He briefed the Army Chief about his meetings with the Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and his counterpart Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan.
He told the Army Chief that during his meetings the two sides discussed security, cross-border terrorism, smuggling, human trafficking, greater intelligence sharing, cooperation between security forces and economic relations.
He was hopeful that with the cooperation of Iranian and Pakistani security forces both countries would be able to root out the menace of terrorism from the region.
The Iranian official viewed that terrorist groups are trying to harm strong Iran-Pakistan friendship with their activities.
Iranian Ambassador to Pakistan Ali Reza Haghighian and senior Iranian and Pakistan officials were also present in the meeting.
The Iranian minister arrived in Pakistan on Monday. During his two-day stay, he met with Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif who underlined the need for the promotion of ties between the two neighbors.
He also met his Pakistani counterpart Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan and Adviser to Prime Minister on National Security and Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz.
The visit of Iran’s interior minister comes just ahead of Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s maiden trip to Tehran. The Iranian minister after completing his Pakistan visit left for Iran on Tuesday evening.