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Pakistan Urges Stronger Regional Anti-Terror Cooperation

Pakistan Urges Stronger Regional Anti-Terror Cooperation
Pakistan Urges Stronger Regional Anti-Terror Cooperation

Pakistani Foreign Minister Sartaj Aziz said regional countries need to strengthen their cooperation in the campaign against terrorism.

In a meeting with Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif in Tehran on Tuesday, Aziz extended his appreciation for Iran’s expression of sympathy over the recent terrorist attacks in Pakistan, Press TV reported. He said Pakistan has adopted measures to prevent the recurrence of such terrorist incidents.

Multiple terrorist attacks have rocked Pakistan over the past few days. More than 70 people were killed and over 150 others injured in a huge bomb explosion at a shrine in the town of Sehwan in Sindh Province on February 16. The self-styled Islamic State terrorist group claimed the barbaric attack.

The terrorist incident came a day after an assailant riding a motorbike attacked a van transporting a judge in the city of Peshawar. The driver of the van was killed and five people, including the judge, were injured.

The Peshawar attack came hours after two bombers hit a government compound in the tribal area of Mohmand near the Afghan border. At least three policemen and two passersby died in the attack.

On February 13, a deadly bombing rocked Lahore, the capital of Punjab Province, killing over a dozen people. The Pakistani Taliban faction Jumaat-ul-Ahrar claimed the attacks in Lahore and Mohmand.

The top Pakistani diplomat also threw his country’s weight behind accelerating the implementation of joint economic projects with Iran.

  Need to Promote Understanding 

The Iranian foreign minister said regional countries must increase dialogue to remove tensions and misunderstandings.

He noted that President Hassan Rouhani recently paid a visit to two important countries in the Persian Gulf in line with the Islamic Republic’s efforts to enhance understanding among regional countries to help solve the festering crises. Rouhani paid a daylong visit to Oman and Kuwait on February 15 to boost cordial relations.

“The visits, which took place at a time when the region is facing special and sensitive circumstances, indicate the countries’ common will to expand friendly ties across the strategic waters of the Persian Gulf,” Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Bahram Qasemi said on Thursday.

Zarif also said Tehran and Islamabad have good political relations and are set to implement projects in several economic sectors, including power transmission, energy, banking, customs and cross-border exchanges.

“It is expected that such relations would be strengthened and the implementation of projects accelerated through joint efforts so that the two countries would witness even greater development of economic relations, which are beneficial to the two states and the region as well,” he said.

The Iranian and Pakistani foreign ministers also discussed the latest developments in the region, ways to counter Al-Qaeda and IS terrorist groups, the situation in Afghanistan and trilateral cooperation among Tehran, Islamabad and Kabul.

 

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