Pakistan, Iran to expand security cooperation, move on from missile strikes

Pakistan and Iran on Monday pledged to mend ties after tit-for-tat missile strikes at what both sides said was militant targets.

Foreign ministers from both countries met in Islamabad Monday for talks after military moves against each other, earlier this month, raised concerns about wider instability in the region.

Speaking at a joint press conference with his Iranian counterpart Hossein Amir Abdollahian, Pakistan’s caretaker Foreign Minister Jalil Abbas Jilani said the neighbors had several strong channels of communication with each other.

“All these channels were operational and we were able to bring whatever issue or misunderstanding that had been created between our two countries, we were able to resolve it fairly quickly,” he said.

The two nations have had a history of rocky relations, but the missile strikes were the most serious incidents in years.

At Monday’s talks, the two countries agreed to fight terrorism in their respective areas and establish a system of consultations at the level of the foreign ministers to oversee progress across sectors, Jilani said.

The two ministers also agreed to immediately appoint liaison officers in Turbat and Zahidan to further strengthen ongoing security and intelligence cooperation.

Abdollahian meanwhile said the two countries had a good understanding, and that there have never been territorial differences or wars between Iran and Pakistan.
“We consider Pakistan’s security, a brotherly, friendly and neighborly country of Iran, as the security of the Islamic Republic of Iran and the security of the whole region,” Abdollahian said.

“Through joint cooperation between Tehran and Islamabad, we will not let terrorists endanger and threaten the security of the two nations,” he said, adding that Iran’s President Ebrahim Raisi would soon visit Pakistan.

According to a statement issued by Pakistan’s foreign ministry, the two foreign ministers also agreed to expand initiatives for economic and development cooperation including through early operationalization of the joint border markets to uplift the socio-economic status of the people of both countries, especially those residing in the border regions.

Experts have meanwhile said that Iran and Pakistan are pursuing their own interests in Afghanistan and to ensure peace and stability in the region, they should hold serious talks with the Islamic Emirate.