Islamabad: Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif is leaving today for a two-day official visit to Iran from on the invitation of Iranian President Hassan Rouhani. This is the first visit of Nawaz Sharif to Iran after becoming Prime Minister of Pakistan for third time. The most important point of discussion between the two leaders is Pak-Iran gas pipeline that Pakistan is delaying on the alleged pressure of America to shelf this important project although Pakistan is extremely energy starved country.
Prime Minister delegation include Adviser on National Security and Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz, Finance Minister Ishaq Dar, Minister for Petroleum and Natural Resources Shahid Khaqan Abbassi, Special Assistant on Foreign Affairs Tariq Fatemi and Chief Minister Balochistan Dr Abdul Malik will accompany the prime minister. It may be mentioned that Aziz had unscheduled visit to Iran in the first week of May and held important meeting with Iranian President Hassan Rouhani.
According to PM Secretariat, the prime minister’s engagements in Tehran include bilateral meeting with President Rouhani and call on Ayatollah Ali Khamenai. The leadership level discussions would provide the two sides an opportunity to review the entire spectrum of bilateral relations as well as regional and international developments of mutual interest.
The bilateral talks will specially focus on strengthening economic ties, in this context, the existing potential of bilateral trade would be reinforced through initiatives aimed at enhancing physical connectivity between the two sides.
The Foreign Office spokesperson Tasnim Aslam said that a number of memoranda of understanding (MoU) and agreements on cooperation in various fields would also be signed during the visit of the prime minister with a view to institutionalizing mutually beneficial cooperation.
The visit of the prime minister to Iran would not only provide a political affirmation to our bilateral relations, but would also set a forward trajectory for their future course.
