Pishin border terminal on the Iran-Pakistan border was officially inaugurated on April 21.
The terminal is located between Sarbaz County in Iran’s Sistan-Baluchestan Province and the town of Mand in Pakistan’s Kech Makran Kech District, Balochistan Province.
Present at the inaugural ceremony were Iran’s Minister of Roads and Urban Development Mohammad Eslami, Pakistan’s Minister for Defense Production Zubaida Jalal, the head of Iran’s Road Maintenance and Transportation Organization, Daryoush Amani Tehrani and representatives of Iran’s Parliament and ministries of industries and foreign affairs, as well as from Pakistan’s Embassy in Tehran and a host of local officials.
Pishin is the third border crossing between Pakistan and Iran.
“After years of having only one border crossing with the neighboring Pakistan, namely Mirjaveh, last year we succeeded in inaugurating Rimdan checkpoint and today we are launching the third border crossing. This will transform and accelerate Iran-Pakistan trade exchanges,” Eslami was quoted as saying by IRNA.
According to Tehrani, Pishin’s border office will ultimately be constructed on over 13 hectares, 2.5 hectares of which were inaugurated on April 21.
“Some 280 billion rials [$1.17 million] worth of investments have so far been made in the project, a section of which came on stream in 44 days,” he said.
Pishin border crossing is located 180 kilometers northeast of Chabahar Port.
The Pakistani minister earlier said measures will be taken to uplift the residents of Pakistan’s Balochistan border areas.
Talking to a delegation of local elders, Jalal said the government has decided to establish border markets for promoting legal trade in border areas, Pakistan Observer reported on Sunday.
Jalal said the Pakistani government is paying 1.5 million rupees per acre for acquiring the land for the establishment border market at the border corridors of Gabd area.
She said Prime Minister Imran Khan has approved the Southern Balochistan Package to alleviate the sense of deprivation of the region’s people and provide basic infrastructure facilities to them.
Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi said the establishment of economic centers at the Pakistan-Iran border would not only boost bilateral trade, but also bring about an economic turnaround in the lives of border residents.
He expressed these views during a visit to Pakistan House and in meetings with Pakistani diplomats in Tehran.
The foreign minister said Pakistan and Iran enjoy deep-rooted fraternal ties based on common religious and cultural values and civilization, Radio Pakistan reported.
Shah Mahmood Qureshi said his visit to Iran is aimed at strengthening economic and trade relations between the two countries.
Qureshi: Iran Lifts Ban on Kinnow Imports
Iran has lifted restrictions on the import of kinnow, as Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi started his two-day trip to the Islamic Republic, The Nation reported.
“I am pleased to share some good news for our citrus farmers. Following discussions, happy to announce that Iran has lifted restrictions on the import of Pakistan’s kinnow,” Qureshi tweeted after landing in Iran.
Kinnow is a high yield mandarin hybrid cultivated extensively in the wider Punjab region of India and Pakistan. It is a hybrid of two citrus cultivars.
The restriction on orange imports from Pakistan to Iran has reportedly been in place since 2012.
Before leaving for Iran, the foreign minister had sent a video message regarding the objectives of his third official visit to Iran.
“I am very grateful to the foreign minister of Iran, Mohammad Javad Zarif, for visiting Pakistan several times. We had very important meetings,” Qureshi said.
“Today I am leaving for Iran where I will have the opportunity to discuss the situation in the region with the Iranian leadership,” he added.
Trade at $1b in 10 Months
Trade between Iran and Pakistan stood at $1 billion during the first 10 months of last Iranian year (March 20, 2020-Jan. 19), the head of Trade Promotion Organization of Iran, Hamid Zadboum, said in a meeting with Pakistan’s Ambassador to Iran Rahim Hayat Qureshi.
“Bilateral trade has declined due to the Covid-19 pandemic, but it has bounced back over the past three months,” Zadboum was quoted as saying by ILNA.
The two sides discussed ways of improving trade and border market infrastructures.
