Rabbani for closer ties with Iran

ISLAMABAD: Senate Chairman Mian Raza Rabbani said on Monday that Pakistan and Iran had deep cultural linkages stemmed in history and there was a need for strong economic relations.
Rabbani was speaking to the Iranian Ambassador Alireza Haghighian, who called on him at the Senate of Pakistan here.The Senate chairman said that his recent meeting with the Iranian foreign minister was fruitful. “Such meetings help cement relations between the two brotherly countries as well as their parliaments,” he remarked.
Rabbani expressed the hope that the ongoing Iranian negotiations on nuclear issue would have a fruitful outcome so that sanctions on Iran could be lifted and Tehran started playing its traditional role in the comity of the nations.
He said Pakistan was against terrorism in all its forms and manifestation and that it was successfully fighting terrorism on its soil through the Zarb-e-Azb, which was yielding results. He said there was a need for close cooperation among the friendly nations of the region, particularly between Pakistan and Iran, for the sake of peace and stability.
He said the economic relations between the two brotherly countries were lacking and hoped for an improvement on both the sides of the border. He also expressed his hope that trade between the two countries would increase in other spheres as well.
Raza Rabbani hoped that the two countries would be able to make progress on the Iran-Pakistan Gas Pipeline project launched by the previous PPP government, as it would help ease the energy crisis in Pakistan.