Growing ties with Iran, Pakistanˈs main achievement in 2014

Islamabad, Jan 3, IRNA – Pakistanˈs Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Tasnim Aslam said that promoting ties with Iran is one of the most significant achievements of Islamabad government in the field of foreign relations in 2014. In 2014, Pakistan managed to put its ties with its western neighbors, Iran and Aghanistan, on a positive track, she said, hoping that the positive trend would also continue in 2015. Iranian and Pakistani high-ranking officials exchanged many visits last year, she noted. She referred to the meeting between Pakistanˈs President Mamnoun Husseinˈs with his Iranian counterpart Hassan Rouhani on the sidelines of World Noruz Festival in Kabul as well as the visit of the Prime Minister Mohammed Nawaz Sharif and his counselor Sartaj Azizˈ to Tehran as examples of attempts to expand mutual relations. The visit of Iranian Interior Minister Abdolreza Rahmani-Fazli and Finance Minister Ali Teyyeb-Nia as well as Majlis Speaker Ali Larijani to Islamabad in 2014, holding of 19th session of Iran-Pakistan joint economic commission in Islamabad, meeting between the two countriesˈ oil ministers as well as exchange of visits among numerous political and economic delegations are among measures taken by Iran and Islamabad in 2014 to boost bilateral relations, she added. Aslam also hoped that wide-scale military operations against terrorists and militants would help create appropriate opportunities for foreign investors in her country./end