Foreign Minister of Pakistan, Mr Jalil Abbas Jilani, has a tele-conversation with his Iranian counterpart, Hossein Amir Abdullahian, first time after the two neighbouring nations traded the exchange of deadly weapons during the week.
The top diplomats discussed the recent developments that brought both nations to loggerheads and sparked tension in the region and agreed not to allow provocateurs and enemy agents to further distract the fraternal relationship between the two brotherly nations. According to the Foreign Office media release, Jilani briefed Abdullahian on Pakistan’s position and reiterated Pakistan’s quest to defend national sovereignty and territorial integrity at all costs. The red lines regarding Pakistan’s security were clear and Pakistan would not allow any breach of its territorial integrity.
Foreign Minister Jilani also expressed Pakistan’s desire to resolve the issues through dialogue and peaceful means. Both sides agreed to reduce the prevailing tension and enhance cooperation/ teamwork against the bad actors, the enemies of peace and common threats to both countries. Meanwhile, Pakistan’s National Security Committee (NSC) met Friday and mentioned that Iran was a neighbourly and brotherly Muslim country and existing multiple communication channels between the two countries should be mutually utilised to address each other’s security concerns in the larger interest of regional peace and stability. Islamabad’s topmost security forum urged that the two countries would mutually be able to overcome minor irritants through dialogue and diplomacy paving the way to further deepen their historic relations.
The bilateral relations between Islamabad and Tehran suddenly suffered a grave setback over the past week after the Iranian military carried out a missile and drone attack on what it called terrorist targets in Pakistan on Tuesday night. Pakistan in turn reciprocated the Iranian move with the same coin striking Pakistani-origin ethnic Baloch militant groups camped inside Iran later on Thursday. Pakistani military proved its mettle by using sophisticated weaponry to ensure accuracy and avoid collateral damage by professionally targeting the BLA terrorists without unintended harm to any human or animal on Iranian soil. Following Iran’s incursion into Pakistan’s airspace, Islamabad called back its envoy from Tehran and also announced the expulsion of the Iranian Ambassador while ceasing all diplomatic engagements with Tehran for an unspecified period.
Historically, Pakistan and Iran have had a long-standing relationship, with both countries sharing a border and a rich cultural heritage. In recent times, the two countries have been working to strengthen their bilateral ties through multiple measures including promoting border markets trade, relaxation in visa regimes to facilitate trade and tourism etc. The people of Pakistan have a special interest and respect for the Islamic Republic of Iran and their Iranian brothers because of a string of bonds including religion, shared culture, language, history and religious heritage.
The government and the people of Pakistan are not in favour of any confrontation and clash with all brotherly Muslim countries including Iran and Afghanistan. During yesterday’s meeting of the National Security Committee (NSC), Pakistani leadership unanimously decided to end tension with Iran and fully restore diplomatic and trade ties with Tehran while all issues relating to border management and ethnic terrorism would be dealt with through cooperation and coordination between the first door neighbours.
On the other side, the Iranian leadership is also well aware of the ground realities and the already fragile geopolitical and security situations in the region. The recent standoff between the two countries has further stoked regional tension already inflamed by the Israel-Hamas conflict in the Middle East. Luckily, the leadership from both countries demonstrated maturity and chose peace and stability instead of confrontation and chaos. In fact, both countries must remember the reality that no one will present them with a bucky of flowers in exchange for proxies, bullets and slang. It is high time, that both countries listen to each other’s concerns and tackle those issues with sincerity. So no such troubling situation occurs in the region any time again.
