PESHAWAR: The Iranian and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa governments on Monday decided to form ministerial committees to benefit from bilateral expertise in energy and education sectors.

The decision was made during a meeting between Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Pervez Khattak and acting Iranian consul general in Peshawar Saeed Zenati here at the Chief Minister’s Secretariat, said a handout issued.

The chief minister said friendly relations and cooperation with neighbouring countries was the top priority of the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf and that the provincial government strictly followed the principle.

The envoy said his country was ready to offer cooperation and support for the development of different sectors in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

CM says better ties among regional countries promise peace and development

He renewed the invitation for the chief minister to visit Iran to see progress and development.

Zenati said the Iranian president was keen to see speedy development in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and further improvement in bilateral relations.

The chief minister and the Iranian consul general discussed matters of bilateral interest and agreed on increase in cooperation and exchange of delegations in different sectors, including energy generation, exploration of oil and gas, education, health, agriculture, livestock and tourism.

Khattak said his government was keen to promote cordial relations with all neighbours to turn the region, which was a victim of poverty and backwardness, into the peaceful and developed one.

He said Iran was Pakistan’s brotherly state and that both countries enjoyed friendly relations, which would be further strengthened in the days ahead.

The chief minister said he was not in favour of foreign visits for the sake of entertainment.

He said he believed in foreign trips at high level, which had the agenda of public interest and candid targets, so first Iranian and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa exerts will sit together to review possibilities of cooperation in different sectors and then he would decide about foreign visits.

Khattak said bilateral cooperation in different sectors for development would bear positive and far-reaching impacts and would help bring the people of both countries closer.

He said it was first time in the province that there was a government, which believed in sincere in the people’s welfare.

The chief minister said durable peace was the biggest need of the region and therefore, the government was concentrating all attention on addressing peace-related issues.

“Without peace, no development can take place,” he said. Khattak said measures and arrangements for elimination of corruption and better utilisation of resources were also underway.

He said all doors of corruption had been closed for good and that actions were being taken to guarantee fair and judicious distribution of resources.

Talking about proposed reforms in health and education sector, the chief minister said shortage of medical staff, equipment and other facilities in all government hospitals had been removed, while provision of quality medical facilities to patients had begun.

“Since the start of the current academic year, a uniform education system has been enforced across the province to provide equal educational opportunities to the children of both rich and poor,” he said.

Khattak informed the Iranian diplomat about the measures taken for progress and development in other social sectors and said the government would benefit from the Iranian expertise in that respect.

Published in Dawn, September 16th, 2014