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Iran passes law to boost cooperation with Pakistan
ISLAMABAD: Despite tensions prevailing between Pakistan and Iran in the past few months over incidents on the Pak-Iran border in Balochistan and Iran's Sistan-Baluchestan province, Sunday saw a marked difference.
Iran's parliament adopted a bill which seeks to enhance security cooperation with Pakistan which The News understands would bind the two countries to cooperate against terrorist and militant groups on the border.
This week will also see the navies of the two countries carrying out joint military exercises in Iran. Despite reaching out to the Foreign Office and the Inter Services Public Relations, there was no response for more details. Neither was there any statement on their websites in what is an important development.
It is unbelievable that when there are efforts for an improvement in bilateral relations between Pakistan and an important neighbour, both the civil and military authorities maintain a stony silence.
The passing of a bill in parliament and news of naval exercises between the two navies come on the eve of a visit to Tehran by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif for which both sides are working on mutually agreed dates.
Recently, the Sunni terrorist group Jaish al-Adl which operates on the Iranian border has on several occasions kidnapped and killed Iranian border guards. Pakistan has denied that these activities take place on its territory. Only recently relations had soured to an extent that the Iranian interior minister threatened hot pursuit inside Pakistan to recover six kidnapped border guards. His threat came as a result of an uproar in the Iranian parliament which demanded that the government seeks the release of its border guards.
Pakistan reacted quickly warning Iran that it had no authority and such an act would be seen as violation of international law. Consequently five of the security guards were handed over to Iranian authorities but one of them had been killed, with Pakistan once again saying that all this was done inside Iranian territory.
In the past this same terrorist group had killed a dozen Iranian soldiers. Sunday also saw the Pakistani fleet inside Iranian waters where they would coordinate with Iran for holding of joint military exercises in the Eastern waters of the Strait of Hormuz.
Pakistan's fleet includes a warship, a submarine and a logistics warship. "The most important programme of the Pakistani fleet, during its stay in Bandar Abbas, is to launch joint maneuvers with selected units of Iran's Navy in eastern waters of the Hormuz Strait," Iranian Rear Admiral Shahram Irani told IRNA. Irani also said that the Pakistani flotilla is slated to stay for four days and that the naval drills are part of a broader cooperation between the two countries.
Courtesy www.geo.tv