Sajjad Bahrami Moghaddam referred to the visit of Dr. Vahidi, Minister of Interior to Pakistan, and spoke about the objectives of this visit; “Economic issues, fencing of the common border between the two countries, livelihood of...
Radio Goftogoo's "Without Scrawl" program had a phone call interview with Sajjad Bahrami Moghaddam, the Iranian international affairs expert regarding Iran Interior Minister's visit to Pakistan and the review of cooperation between the two countries.
Sajjad Bahrami Moghaddam stated that Pakistan is Iran's most populous neighbor; “Pakistan is one of the countries that has had good relations with Iran over the past decades.”
He also mentioned some issues on the two countries' borders; “These issues are related to border traffic and issues such as drug trafficking, and rarely the issue of terrorism from the Pakistani border.”
Referring to Pakistan's project to fence the border, the international affairs expert said; “Pakistan announced a month ago that 70% of the border between the two countries has been fenced and of course it is implementing this project on the border with Afghanistan and India.”
He added that the fencing the border would affect the livelihoods of border residents; “One of the goals that Dr. Wahidi, our Interior Minister, is pursuing in Pakistan is about border crossings and also border markets. In fact, Iran seeks an agreement that Pakistan's fencing on its territory and along the border, will not harm trade between the two countries, especially for border residents.”
Bahrami Moghaddam continued; “Since 1997, the volume of Iran's exports to Pakistan has increased from $ 29 million in that year to $ 500 million in 2019. Of course, Pakistan's exports to Iran have been declining over the years.”
“It’s estimated that over the next few years, we’ll increase trade to more than $ 5 billion,” said the international affairs expert, who estimates that trade will reach $ 1.5 billion in this year.
Regarding the other goals of Iran’s Interior Minister's visit to Pakistan, he said; “The issue of prisoners in the two countries and the issue of Afghanistan are among the topics that will be considered during the Iranian Interior Minister's visit to Pakistan.”
By Zahra Judaki
