Pakistani president calls for further enhancement of mutual cooperation with Iran

Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari in a meeting with Iranian Ambassador to Islamabad Alireza Haqiqian underlined enhancement of interactions and mutual cooperation between Iran and Pakistan. During the meeting, Zardari voiced satisfaction at the current level of relations between Pakistan and Iran, and expressed the hope that the ties in all fields will further strengthen. President Zardari recalled his recent as well as previous visits to Iran and the visits of Iranian leaders to Pakistan and stressed that such high level visits reflect strong bilateral relations. He also called for economic cooperation between the two brotherly Islamic countries, adding that Pakistan and Iran have similar views on several international and regional issues. Iran and Pakistan exchange delegations on a regular basis and the two neighboring countries are keen to expedite expansion of their bilateral trade ties. In March, Iran and Pakistan officially inaugurated the construction phase of a several-billion-dollar gas pipeline project which is due to take Iran's rich gas reserves to the energy-hungry Muslim country. The project kicked off in a ceremony attended by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and his Pakistani counterpart Asif Ali Zardari at the two countries' shared border region in Iran's Southeastern city of Chabahar. The 2700-kilometer long pipeline was to supply gas for Pakistan and India which are suffering a lack of energy sources, but India has evaded talks. In 2011, Iran and Pakistan declared they would finalize the agreement bilaterally if India continued to be absent in the meeting. Iran has already constructed more than 900 kilometers of the pipeline on its soil. According to the project proposal, the pipeline will begin from Iran's Assalouyeh Energy Zone in the south and stretch over 1,100 km through Iran. In Pakistan, it will pass through Baluchistan and Sindh but officials now say the route may be changed if China agrees to the project.