SIALKOT, May 2: Iranian Consul General in Pakistan Saeid Kharazi has expressed concern over the deteriorating condition of Iqbal Manzil (the birthplace of poet-philosopher Allama Iqbal) and urged the Pakistani government to take steps to preserve and protect this heritage.
The Iranian consul general flanked by Iranian Commercial Attaché Muhammad Ali Ramzan Najad and Political Attaché Raza Latifi visited the 146-year-old Iqbal Manzil on Friday and paid homage to the thinker of Pakistan.
Kharazi also recited some verses from Iqbal’s Persian poetry, and said they contained secrets of development and prosperity of whole the world.
Talking to reporters, he said the Iranian government was making all-out efforts to promote Persian education in Pakistan, especially in Sialkot, as over 75 per cent poetry of Iqbal was in Persian language.
He said Iqbal’s poetry also paved the way for great revolution in Iran.
Kharazi said he felt no doubt in saying that Iqbal was the greatest personality of the world.
SCCI: The Iranian consul general also visited the Sialkot Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SCCI) on Friday, and said the Iranian government was intending to launch direct passenger flights between Sialkot and Tehran very soon.
Addressing the local businessmen, Kharazi pledged to make sincere efforts to increase mutual trade volume in favour of Pakistan through bridging information gap between the business communities of both the countries.
Earlier, the Iranian diplomats visited various leading industrial units. SCCI President Dr Khurram Anwar Khwaja accompanied them.
The Iranian envoy pointed out that his government was trying to increase mutual trade volume to the tune of $1 billion in favour of Pakistan very soon.
He said both countries were enjoying good trade relations and it was high time to further cement these ties.
Kharazi said there were bright opportunities for entrepreneurs of setting up joint ventures in both the countries. He said local exporters had a great potential to capture the international trade markets of Iran by exporting their traditional and non-traditional items.
He assured soccer ball manufacturers and exporters that his country would like to buy soccer balls directly from Sialkot instead of purchasing them from other countries.
Dr Khwaja said the current trade figures were not so encouraging, however there was a huge potential to increase this volume manifold.
The SCCI president said both the countries could enjoy fruit of liberal trade between them by using rail, road and air links between Iran and Pakistan
DROWNS: A 20-year-old factory worker Naeem Ahmad drowned in BRB Canal near Daska city in a bid to beat the heat on Friday.
His body had not been fished out till the filing of this report.