PM embarks upon Iran visit from today

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan will visit Quetta today (Sunday) before embarking upon for a two-day visit to Iran.

Imran will have hectic engagements in the city as he will pay a visit to the Hazara families and offer his condolences over Hazarganji suicide attack.

The premier will also inaugurate a housing scheme that will be part of the gigantic agenda of the government regarding construction of houses for the masses. Well-placed sources told The News here on Saturday that the prime minister will leave for Mashhad, the religious city of Iran, on his way to Iranian capital Tehran in afternoon. He will pay a two-day official visit to Iran from today (Sunday).

The sources revealed that Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi will not be part of the entourage of the prime minister in his trip to Iran. It would be the first official foreign visit of the prime minister ever-since coming in office in August last in which Foreign Minister Qureshi isn’t accompanying the prime minister, the sources said.

The gory incident of Makran Coastal Highway, where 14 personnel belonging to the security forces were martyred by intruders coming from Iran and believed to have been working at the behest of Indian terror sponsoring spy agency ‘RAW’ will cast ugly shadow on the visit of Iran by the prime minister beginning today.

Prime Minister Imran Khan will take up the matter with his Iranian hosts, the sources said. They said that Iran’s President Dr Hasan Rouhani will leave for China after receiving and meeting prime minister in Tehran. Imran is undertaking his maiden visit to Iran on the invitation of Iranian President Hassan Rouhani. The visit will include a brief stop-over in Mashhad before arriving in Tehran for bilateral talks with the Iranian leadership.

The prime minister will call on Iranian Supreme Leader Sayyid Ali Khamenei and hold detailed consultations with President Rouhani. Imran Khan will also meet members of the Iranian and Pakistani business community in Iran.

Pakistan’s relations with Iran are marked by close historic and cultural linkages and strong people to people exchanges. Prime minister’s visit to Iran will further the close bilateral relationship between the two countries, the official sources added.

New Foreign Secretary Sohail Mahmood will be part of prime minister’s delegation visiting Iran. The sources pointed out that Foreign Minister Qureshi will be here. Prime Minister Imran Khan will be leaving for China on Tuesday will be joined by Foreign Minister Qureshi in Beijing. Foreign Minister Qureshi will be visiting Sri Lanka and the Maldives in the first week of next month.