Bilateral ties to remain unaffected, Iran assured

Published April 20, 2017
Iranian Ambassador Mehdi Honardoost called on Chief of the Army Staff Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa on Wednesday.— Online
Iranian Ambassador Mehdi Honardoost called on Chief of the Army Staff Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa on Wednesday.— Online

ISLAMABAD: The army assured Iran on Wednesday that bilateral ties would remain unaffected.

The assurance was extended to Iranian Ambassador Mehdi Honardoost by Chief of the Army Staff Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa during a meeting at the General Headquarters.

Extraordinary importance is being attached to the meeting by diplomatic circles here because it was the second between the two in around six weeks, a rare happening in Pakistan-Iran relations given the mutual mistrust.

“Pakistan greatly values historic Pak-Iran relationship and the same shall continue based on mutual trust and respect for each other’s interests,” Gen Bajwa told Amb Honardoost.


The assurance was extended to Iranian ambassador by Gen Bajwa during a meeting at GHQ


The context of the meeting may help understand the agenda though both sides were tight-lipped about the issues discussed at the meeting. The Iran embassy had last week protested what it saw as a “vilification campaign” involving a confessional statement of Lyari gangster Uzair Baloch.

Uzair is accused of sharing sensitive information with Iranian intelligence. The 13-page self-written confessional statement of Uzair about his involvement with Iranian intelligence services emerged hours after late-night tweets last week by Inter-Services Public Relations chief Maj Gen Asif Ghafoor. Uzair is set to be tried for espionage by a military tribunal.

The Iranian embassy had warned that the campaign was aimed at damaging public opinion about Iran and would be taken as “contrary to the spirit of friendship and brotherhood between the two nations”.

Last year Iran was blamed for the stay of Kulbhushan Jadhav, an operative of Indian intelligence agency Research and Analysis Wing, in Chahbahar before his capture in Pakistan.

Moreover, Iran has been uneasy about Pakistan’s participation in a Saudi-led military alliance. It expressed reservations about retired Gen Raheel Sharif being named as top commander of the alliance, which is now taking shape.

The latest meeting between Gen Bajwa and Amb Honardoost took place amid reports that Pakistan was considering the deployment of 5,000 troops in Saudi Arabia.

Published in Dawn, April 20th, 2017

Opinion

Editorial

Climate realities
Updated 13 Jun, 2025

Climate realities

Finance Minister says, "We are living climate change day in and day out”.
Minimum wages
Updated 13 Jun, 2025

Minimum wages

Foolish to expect toothless and corrupt provincial employees’ social security organisations to force wealthy employers to implement the minimum wage.
Iran attack fears
13 Jun, 2025

Iran attack fears

AS the fate of the US-Iran talks remains undecided, there are worrying signs that in case the negotiations collapse,...
Lack of direction
Updated 12 Jun, 2025

Lack of direction

Few believe that a govt desperate to grow the economy can actually pull it off, as the dynamism required is not visible.
Taxing e-commerce
12 Jun, 2025

Taxing e-commerce

FOR the first time, the government has the digital economy in its crosshairs. With a slew of new measures proposed ...
Kashmir mediation
12 Jun, 2025

Kashmir mediation

ONE of the noteworthy outcomes of last month’s limited clashes between Pakistan and India is that the Kashmir ...