Islamabad, July 19: Iran and Pakistan have on Thursday agreed to speed up the inauguration of newly constructed border crossings, including effective border infrastructures.
According to Dawn news reports, the development was reached on the sidelines of the second section of a meeting of the Iran-Pakistan Higher Border Commission (HBC).
A team of the Iranian delegation was led by the Abbas Bagherpour Ardekani, the director-general of international legal affairs of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, whereas the Pakistani delegation was headed by Zahid Hafeez Chaudhri, the director-general (Turkey, Iran, Afghanistan) at the foreign office.
In 2017, Pakistan and Iran had set up the HBC for better cross-border management after a few Iranian border keepers were executed in a terrorist assault in the border locale. The panel that comprises of four individuals from each side had initially met in July 2017.
The gathering on Thursday, which occurred following a two-year pause, pursued Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan’s official visit to Tehran this year during which both nations gained ground over border issues.
Pakistan and Iran share more than a 900km-long border, which is plagued with drug traffickers, militants and criminal gangs. A few groups have in the past accomplished cross-border assaults murdering Iranian border security personnel.
In this way, border security has, for since quite a while, remained a noteworthy aggravation in bilateral relations. The two neighbors have recently collaborated widely for improving border security by attempting some major measures.
In an official statement, Pakistan’s foreign office (FO) said: “During the session, the two sides held constructive discussions for effective implementation of existing border mechanisms within the relevant frameworks including the agreement for the administration of the Pakistan-Iran border of 1960. They agreed to further strengthen mutual cooperation in these areas.”
“Both sides reaffirmed their commitment to expedite opening new border crossing points with mutual understanding,” it added.