News
Friday, February 17, 2012
Zardari vows to respect Iran gas deal* Pakistan, Iran agree to put in place effective arrangements to prevent violent incidents on border, drug trafficking
* Zardari for removing barriers in trade with Iran
* Ahmadinejad appreciates Pakistan’s role for regional peace
Staff Report
ISLAMABAD: President Asif Ali Zardari on Thursday reiterated commitment for expeditious implementation of the Iran-Pakistan Gas Pipeline Project, a 1,000MW electricity transmission line and 100MW Gwadar power supply in order to meet the country’s growing demands for energy and power.
Zardari said this during his meeting with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad at the President’s House.
Briefing the media, the president’s spokesman Farhatullah Babar said that during a one-on-one meeting, followed by a delegation-level talks on the sidelines of the trilateral summit, the two leaders held wide-ranging discussions on bilateral, regional and international issues.
President Zardari proposed to encourage barter and trade in local currencies between Pakistan and Iran, besides removing tariff and non-tariff barriers.
He said enhancing bilateral cooperation, particularly in energy and infrastructure, would help the two countries overcome the challenges in the way of realisation of full existing potential of their relations, and realise the goal of raising bilateral trade to the $5 billion target that he said was feasible.
President Zardari called for enhancing bilateral cooperation between Pakistan and Iran for promoting peace, stability and economic progress of the people of the region in general and of the two countries in particular.
The two sides also agreed to put in place effective measures and better coordination between each other’s border control authorities to prevent violent incidents on the borders.
President Zardari said Pakistan and Iran faced a common menace of drug trafficking across their borders and expressed the hope that initiatives and mechanisms on both sides would help counter trafficking of narcotics in the region.
The Iranian president, on the other hand, thanked his Pakistani counterpart and Pakistan’s government for the warm welcome and appreciated Pakistan’s role in promoting regional stability and peace and for its keen interest in further strengthening the existing cordial relations with Iran.
Ahmadinejad said Pakistan was an important neighbour for Iran and assured his government’s continued support and assistance in all sectors.
According to the spokesman, President Zardari said the trilateral summit provided a useful forum for coordination on Afghanistan and expressed optimism about the positive outcome of the summit. He also thanked Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and his government’s efforts for attending the important summit.
Earlier, Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani, during his meeting with the Iranian president, underscored the affinities between both the countries, stressing that shared culture, religion, border and history would help tap immense trade potential existing between them.
The prime minister also extended his gratitude to the Iranian leader for his country’s provision of electricity to Gwadar. He said import of electricity from Iran would partially alleviate the electricity crisis in the country.
Courtesy www.dailytimes.com.pk