ISLAMABAD: Iran and Pakistan have agreed to form a joint committee which would resolve border trade and logistics issues between the two nations, Pakistani state media reported on Sunday amid Islamabad’s push for regional connectivity.
Iran and Pakistan share a 900-kilometer porous border that they hope will be able to boost their transport and energy sectors as part of broader efforts to enhance regional connectivity and improve economic integration.
However, militancy in the two countries’ shared border area, which includes Pakistan’s southwestern Balochistan province and Iran’s southeastern Sistan-Baluchestan province, has hindered trade and logistics cooperation. Both regions are restive, mineral-rich and largely underdeveloped due to decades-long separatist insurgencies.
“Pakistan and Iran have agreed to form a joint committee to resolve issues hampering border trade and logistics between the two countries, reaffirming their commitment to deepen economic cooperation and regional connectivity,” state broadcaster Radio Pakistan reported.
This understanding was reached between the two sides during a meeting between Pakistan’s Communications Minister Abdul Aleem Khan and Iran’s Minister for Roads and Urban Development Farzaneh Sadegh in Islamabad, the state broadcaster said.
Sadegh expressed Iran’s desire to expand cooperation in maritime affairs through Chabahar and Gwadar ports, while Khan pointed out that Islamabad remains committed to facilitating regional trade and connectivity.
The development takes place amid Islamabad’s push to increase regional connectivity and trade relations as it attempts to escape a prolonged economic crisis that has drained its forex reserves and triggered a balance of payments crisis.
The South Asian country has attempted in recent years to establish what Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif describes as “mutually beneficial partnerships” with friendly countries rather than seek loans for economic survival.
Islamabad and Tehran have both voiced their desire to increase bilateral trade to $10 billion in recent months.
