Pakistan Council on Foreign Relations (PCFR)- Karachi based think-tank –organized an interactive session on “Pakistan-Iran Relations: Prospects and Challenges” at Karachi. Dr. Vahid Jalalzadeh Chairman National Security and Foreign Policy Commission (NSFPC) of Iranian Parliament along with Dr. Abolfazl Amouei, Spokesperson of NSFPC, Engineer Ramazan Ali Sangdovini member Iran-Pakistan Friendship Group, and Mr. Hossein Asadi attended the seminar and shared thoughts on the subject.
The session was attended by Iran Consul General Nourian hasan Russian Consul General in Karachi Andrey Viktorovich Fedorov, Consul General of the Sultanate of Oman in Karachi Engineer Sami Abdullah Salim Al Khanjari,Consul General of Turkey Cemal Sangu, Editor inchief Pakistan Observer Faisal Zahid Malik , Former Governor of Sindh Moinuddin Haider former ambassadors of Pakistan, Pakistani parliamentarians, business community, members of PCFR, and academicians.
Mr. Justice Gulzar Ahmed former Chief Justice of Pakistan and Co-Chief Patron of PCFR presented the welcome address while Mr. Ahsan Mukhtar Zubairi Secretary General PCFR highlighted the role and contributions of PCFR in promoting Pakistan’s interests at national and international level. Ambassador Syed Hassan Habib, Senior Board member of PCFR while presenting the opening remarks highlighted that the relationship between Pakistan and Iran have witnessed different phases of highs and lows. Ambassador Habib maintained that the border with Iran despite having some problems always remained manageable and both countries cooperated with each other to counter the common challenges.
Dr. Vahid Jalalzadeh said that Iran always looks forward to establishing good relations with all ofits neighbors and we enjoy mutually beneficial relations with Pakistan as well. He shared that in the capacity of serving as governor of one of Iran’s provinces he has observed that both countries are very important for each other. Dr. Jalalzadeh appreciated the efforts of hosting this interactive session which offered an opportunity to share experiences.
He further said that on returning back to Iran they would put forward the takeaways of this meeting in Iran’s parliament and further discuss ways to enhance cooperation between the two countries, and also proposed to invite PCFR’s delegation to discuss the prospects of mutually beneficial relations. H.E. Mr Hassan Nourian Consul General of Iran in Karachi also addressed the session and highlighted that both countries enjoy mutually beneficial relations as Iran was the first country to recognize Pakistan in 1947 while Pakistan was the first to recognize Iran after the 1979 Revolution.While commenting on economic relations, H.E. Nourian maintained that we are working onenhancing the volume of trade between the two brotherly countries and aim to reach $5 billion in a year’s time. The session was followed by a lively question and answer session.
