Pakistan, Iran agree to increase volume of bilateral trade to $10b

Islamabad:  Pakistan and Iran on Monday agreed to increase the volume of bilateral trade to ten billion dollars in next five years.

The understanding to this effect reached during a meeting between Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif and Iranian President Dr. Seyyed Ebrahim Raisi in Islamabad today.  The Ministers and senior officials from both sides were present in the meeting. 

The two leaders discussed the entire range of bilateral relations and exchanged views on important regional and global developments.

Underscoring the rich history of relations between Pakistan and Iran, the two leaders reaffirmed commitment to expand wide-ranging bilateral cooperation, particularly in the areas of trade, energy, connectivity, culture and people-to-people contacts.

They also agreed to cooperate in developing joint approaches to confront common challenges including the threat of terrorism.

During the meeting, President Raisi and the Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif expressed strong and unequivocal condemnation of the indiscriminate use of force by Israeli occupation authorities in Gaza for over seven months.

The two leaders reiterated the call for international efforts to an immediate and unconditional ceasefire, lifting of the siege and humanitarian relief to the people of Gaza.

The Prime Minister lauded the Iranian leadership, especially Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, for Iran's unequivocal and principled support for the Kashmiri people and their legitimate rights.