Pakistan wants to further boost ties with Iran: PM

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif Tuesday hinted at announcing a winter power relief package and emphasised the need for facilitating businesspersons to boost their morale.

“We are taking measures bit by bit for relief of the common man to create jobs and run the economy. This is a tough journey but only the nations that face the challenges are destined to succeed,” he remarked while presiding over a federal cabinet meeting here, reports APP.

The prime minister told the cabinet members that in a follow-up of his recent visit to Riyadh, a Pakistani delegation had left for the kingdom to discuss cooperation in mining and minerals, solar energy and skilled IT sectors for which workforce was required by both Saudi Arabia and Qatar.

He asked the IT ministry to give a presentation to explain their strategy to produce IT workforce of international standard to make them cope with the requirements of both the countries.

Calling for a swift action on B2B MoUs with Saudi Arabia, Shehbaz said the Azerbaijan government had also given a green light for the signing of $2 billion MoUs to strengthen bilateral cooperation. “These are good signals. How we take advantage of these is up to us,” he remarked.

Lauding the policy rate reduction by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) to 15%, he said the government’s economic stability measures were coming to fruition. The prime minister said a further 2% reduction of the policy rate was a pleasing development for business, agriculture, exports, and commerce sectors. He said the central bank had gradually cut the policy rate from 22% to 15%, encouraging people to invest their money in the economy to create jobs, enhance production and exports. “The policy rate reduction will decrease the debt burden by Rs1.3 trillion, providing huge relief and creating a great fiscal space for the country,” he said. Shehbaz expressed the hope that the country’s economy would strengthen, if the indicators continued to move positively.

Our correspondent M Anis reports: Meanwhile, Shehbaz laid the foundation stone of two road projects in Islamabad. He lauded the efforts of the army chief, Rawalpindi Corps and Special Services Group (SSG) and Minister for Interior Mohsin Naqvi for making foolproof security arrangements for the SCO Summit in Islamabad. “I want to commend the services of Rawalpindi Corps and SSG who on directives of the army chief made foolproof security arrangements on the eve of SCO Summit,” the prime minister said.

He congratulated Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi and his team, particularly the Capital Development Authority (CDA), for making the SCO summit a success which ended peacefully in Islamabad. Shehbaz particularly named the CDA Chairman Muhammad Ali Randhawa and Inspector General of Police Islamabad Ali Nasir Rizvi for their contributions.

The prime minister observed that laying the foundation stone of two mega projects was the beginning of an era of development and prosperity in Islamabad and adjoining areas. Earlier, the interior minister said the F-8 Exchange Interchange at the junction of Jinnah Avenue and 9th Avenue and Serena Chowk underpasses were milestone projects. He said the CDA was contemplating upon taking up many other projects, including improvement of flow of traffic at Faizabad Chowk from where vehicles enter Islamabad from Rawalpindi and linking Margalla Road with the Motorway.

APP reports: Meanwhile, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif Tuesday reaffirmed that Pakistan desired to further strengthen its brotherly relationship with Iran through maintaining regular high-level exchanges and enhancing mutually advantageous cooperation across all spheres of shared interest. The prime minister, in a meeting with Foreign Minister of Iran Seyed Abbas Araghchi, who called on him here, reiterated Pakistan’s unequivocal support to the Palestinian people in their just struggle for self-determination and statehood.

He strongly condemned and expressed grave concern over Israel’s ongoing genocidal campaign against the Palestinian people, according to a PM Office press release. Welcoming Foreign Minister Araghchi on his first official visit to Pakistan as Foreign Minister of Iran, Prime Minister Shehbaz conveyed his sincere regards and good wishes to Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei and President Massoud Pezeshkian. The prime minister also emphasized the need for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, provision of unhindered humanitarian assistance and, above all, grant of the inalienable right to self-determination to the Palestinian people, as guaranteed to them by the relevant resolutions of the UN, as well as OIC.

He also reiterated strong condemnation of Israel’s attack against Iran on October 26, 2024, while reaffirming support for Iran’s sovereignty and territorial integrity. The Iranian foreign minister thanked the prime minister for Pakistan’s principled position and briefed him on Iran’s perspective regarding the situation in the region.

Meanwhile, Pakistan and Iran Tuesday condemned Israel’s unrestrained military aggression in the Middle East and its genocidal actions against innocent civilians and questioned the international community’s failure to stop the Zionist regime from its violation of international laws and UN Charter.

In a joint press stakeout following their meeting, Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar and Iranian Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi told the media that Israel’s illegal measures in occupied territories, in violation of international law, international humanitarian law, and the UN Charter, constituted the root cause of all tensions in the Middle East.

Besides exchanging views on the current situation and developments in the Middle East and across the globe, both sides discussed focusing on the Middle East crisis, denial of the right to self-determination, and the need for upholding international law and advancing accountability.

In his remarks, Dar said both sides emphasized the need for reaching an urgent ceasefire, de-escalation, and dialogue, aiming to realize the right of self-determination for the Palestinian people. He recalled Pakistan’s timely and strong condemnation of Israel’s military strikes on Iran in grave violation of Iran’s sovereignty. Dar reiterated the call for establishing a viable, independent, and contiguous state of Palestine on the basis of pre-1967 borders, with Al-Quds Al-Sharif as its capital.

“We reject the propensity by occupying powers to equate the right of self-determination with terrorism, which is nothing but a ploy to prolong their occupation and apartheid policies. The long-standing Palestinian issue and the issue of Jammu and Kashmir, which are based on the denial of the right to self-determination, must be addressed through peaceful means, fully respecting the rights and aspirations of the affected populations, in line with relevant United Nations resolutions and the UN Charter,” he remarked.

He told the media that both sides also discussed ways and means to enhance cooperation across several key areas, including trade, energy, and border security, besides agreeing to intensify collaboration on border management and address shared challenges.

The two foreign ministers underscored that terrorism and extremism posed a serious threat to regional peace and pledged to coordinate their joint efforts to eradicate these challenges. Dar thanked his Iranian counterpart for Iran’s support for Pakistan’s membership at the BRICS Forum, and also for the pilgrims visiting holy places in Iran.

As both leaders are scheduled to meet at the upcoming Joint Islamic Summit in Jeddah, they agreed to pool their efforts to ensure coming up with a joint approach to the issues for which this Joint Summit has been called. Araghchi said Israeli regime had committed blatant crimes and acts of genocide in Gaza and continued its widespread aggression in Lebanon and other places. These crimes have now spread to Lebanon. The Zionist regime further displayed its belligerent and aggressive nature by attacking Iran on October 26th, he added.

“Unlike the Israeli regime, the Islamic Republic of Iran does not seek escalation; however, we reserve our inherent right to legitimate defense under Article 51 of the United Nations Charter, and we will certainly respond to the Israeli aggression at an appropriate time and in a measured and well-calculated manner,” he commented.

The Iranian foreign minister appreciated the strong and commendable stance of the government and people of Pakistan in condemning the Zionist regime’s aggression against Iran. Calling the phenomenon of terrorism a shared and common threat to the two countries and the whole region, as well as a collective threat on a global scale to the entire international community, both foreign ministers reiterated their commitment to address and combat this phenomenon bilaterally through mutual collaboration and with the cooperation of regional countries.

Araghchi also extended an invitation to Ishaq Dar to pay an official visit to Iran, and also participate in the upcoming ECO ministerial meeting in Tehran. Addressing the participants at a dinner hosted by the Iranian ambassador at the Embassy of Iran, the Iranian foreign minister said the issue of the gas pipeline should be discussed at the negotiating table. He said that his country wanted to settle it through talks.