ISLAMABAD, Oct 27 (APP): Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi on Tuesday briefed a group of Iranian journalists about the warm and cordial Pakistan-Iran relations and the role Pakistan has been playing to promote peace and stability in the region.  During the call on of a five-member media delegation from Iran representing “Iran Daily”, “Tehran Times” and “Zahidan Morning” Qureshi said that Pakistan and Iran have strong relations anchored in history, common faith and cultural affinities.

He said the government and the people of Pakistan have immense affection for Iran. 

He said since the democratic government in Pakistan took over last year, relations between the two countries have come a long way, including agreement on the long-pending Pakistan-Iran gas pipeline.

The Foreign Minister said that the current bilateral trade, which is close to US$ 1 billion, was not representative of the potential and political goodwill existing between the two countries.

He added that Pakistan would like to see the bilateral trade and economic relations increasing manifold in the years ahead to mutual benefit of both the countries.

Qureshi emphasized the need for injecting more vitality into the Economic Cooperation Organization for the benefit of all its members.

He said that there were elements who wanted to create misunderstanding between the two countries through their nefarious designs and actions.

Pakistan-Iran should be cognizant of such forces, underlining that bilateral relations were strong and deep-rooted and could take care of such anti Pakistan-Iran forces.

He also said that ongoing cooperation between the two countries would be able to tackle issues related to terrorism, smuggling and trans-national organized crimes. 

In this regard, the trilateral process involving Pakistan, Iran and Afghanistan is also playing an important role. 

Briefing the delegation about Pakistan’s relations with India, Foreign Minister Qureshi reiterated Pakistan’s desire to create durable peace in south Asia by resolving all outstanding disputes with India. 

Members of the delegation thanked the Foreign Minister for receiving them and undertook to contribute positively towards further promoting and strengthening mutual understanding between the peoples of the two countries.