Pakistan to ensure security on Iran border, says minister

ISLAMABAD: Minister for States and Frontier Region Lt Gen (R) Abdul Qadir Baloch has said that Pakistan will ensure security of the bordering areas between Iran and Pakistan.

Talking to Islami Republic News Agency (IRNA) on Sunday, he said Pakistan could ensure desirable security for anything which had to travel on ground between Iran and Pakistan. Iran is capable of taking care of problems at its end and “we are capable of handling the problems on our side”, he added. The minister said that the visit of Iranian President would boost the economy of the both countries.

Baloch said that major issue of Afghan refugees had also been discussed between Pakistan and Iran during President Hassan Rouhani’s visit. “We need to have a combined strategy to handle the situation of Afghan refugees and this might get discussed between the two sides,” he added.

He said there is a lot of improvement on bordering areas of Pakistan and good cooperation is going on between Pakistan and Afghanistan and also between Iran and Pakistan. He said that if peace was to be brought back to Afghanistan, Pakistan and Iran both had to put their hands together and help Afghanistan to come out of this turmoil.

He said Pakistan had no territorial disputes with Iran and there were no ideological differences between the two. They were bound by cultural as well as historical relationship, he added. He said Pakistan and Iran were close neighbours and both could benefit from each other s resources.

“We have the manpower and very good areas where investments could take place whereas we can benefit a lot from Iran in energy sector,” he said. He stated that Pakistani agriculture sector was quite strong and could export rice and fruits like oranges to Iran. “Other than agriculture, we can export livestock as it offers a big scope for economic cooperation,” he added.