ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s deputy prime minister and foreign minister, Ishaq Dar, arrived in Iran today, Monday, on a two-day official visit to attend the 28th meeting of the Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO) Council of Ministers, the Foreign Office in Islamabad said. 
The ECO is a political and economic intergovernmental organization that promotes economic, technical, and cultural cooperation among member states. The ECO was founded in 1985 by Iran, Pakistan, and Turkiye, and was established to succeed the Regional Cooperation for Development (RCD), which existed from 1964 to 1979. 
The ECO’s objectives include contributing to the development of member states, removing trade barriers within the ECO region, developing intra-regional trade, promoting the ECO region’s integration with global markets and strengthening cultural and historical ties among member states.
“Deputy Prime Minister/Foreign Minister Senator Mohammad Ishaq Dar has arrived in Mashhad, Iran to attend the 28th Meeting of the ECO Council of Ministers,” the foreign office said, adding that the Pakistani dignitary was received at the airport by Vice Governor General of Razavi Khorasan province , Mohammad Ali Nabipoor and Pakistan’s Ambassador to Iran, Mudassir Tipu.
In his address at the ECO meeting in Mashhad, Dar will highlight the potential of greater connectivity in the ECO region, according to a press briefing by Foreign Office spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch.
“Deputy PM will reiterate Pakistan’s commitment to the ECO charter and highlight the potential of greater connectivity in the ECO region to development of road and rail networks, liberalization of visa regimes, simplification of border procedures and to maintain sustainable growth and enhance geo-economic potential of the ECO region,” Baloch said.
“Deputy PM will sign the charter for ECO clean energy center and hold bilateral meetings with participating ministers and other dignitaries on the sidelines.”
Dar will also reiterate Pakistan’s concerns over hostilities in the Middle East that endanger peace and security of the region.
Dar’s visit comes weeks after Iranian FM Seyed Abbas Araghchi was in Islamabad to hold consultations with Pakistani leaders on the Middle East situation following Israel’s invasion of Gaza and Lebanon, and to discuss bilateral ties.