Iran has offered to supply Pakistan enough energy that may meet its oil, gas and electricity needs.
“Iran is ready to meet Pakistan’s oil and gas demands … (and) we are ready to increase (electricity) exports to Pakistan ten-fold,” President Hassan Rouhani said.
Appearing in a joint press conference with Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan in Tehran on Monday, Rouhani said cooperation between Iranian Chabahar port in southeast of Iran and Pakistan’s Gwadar deep seaport can be increased.
Tehran could facilitate the construction of a railroad connecting Istanbul to Islamabad, he also said after the meeting, which were overshadowed by the two countries’ commitment to cooperate in combating militancy and terrorism.
Pakistan and Iran plan to increase the bilateral trade to the mark of US $ 5 billion by the year 2021.
Hassan Rouhani said that he and visiting Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan had agreed to set up a joint border “reaction force” to counter terrorism.
“We agreed to create a joint rapid reaction force at the borders for combating terrorism,” Iranian President said.
The Iranian-Pakistani border is along the southeastern Iranian province of Sistan-Baluchistan which has recently been the scene of frequent attacks on Iran’s security forces.
Imran Khan’s visit to Iran follows a major attack a few days ago, when gunmen, who Islamabad says were based in Iran, butchered 14 passengers including security personnel on April 18 in its own Balochistan province.
“The security chief will sit down with his counterpart here and discuss (security) cooperation,” Pakistan’s premier Imran Khan told at the joint press stake out.
“We trust that both countries will not have terrorist activities from their soil … We will not allow any damage to your country from our soil,” he said in remarks that acknowledged the use of Pakistani soil for militant attacks inside Iran.
Pakistan says it had evidence the “terrorist outfits” that carried out the attack in Balochistan have “training and logistic camps inside Iranian areas bordering Pakistan.”
Imran Khan said his visit aims at exploring ways to increase trade and cooperation… in energy and other areas.
The two countries have been racing to get advantage with port facilities and have had uneasy relations due to militant attacks in border regions.
