Summary Zarif is scheduled to give a speech at the conference offering Iran's positions and strategies.
ISLAMABAD (Web Desk) – Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif called on Prime Minister (PM) Nawaz Sharif on the sidelines of the Heart of Asia Conference in Islamabad on Wednesday.
PM Nawaz said that Iran and Pakistan have historical bonds which will become stronger in the future.
Iranian Foreign Minister lauded Pakistan for hosting Heart of Asia Conference to ensure peace and stability in the region. He said Iran is determined to work with Afghanistan and Pakistan to eliminate extremism and terrorism from the region.
Javad Zarif said that Iran hopes that all obstacles in the way of economic cooperation between the two countries will be removed after lifting of sanctions.
He said President Rohani will soon visit Pakistan.
On the other hand, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu also met PM Nawaz and stated that his country supports Pakistan s efforts for reconciliation process in Afghanistan and peace in the region.
The Prime Minister said that Turkey is a time-tested friend of Pakistan ad relations between the two countries will be strengthened with the passage of time.
Earlier, Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif met National Security Advisor of Pakistan Sartaj Aziz on Tuesday evening in Islamabad emphasizing the need for regional cooperation in line with increasing stability and security.
Javad Zarif met with Sartaj Aziz and discussed boosting of bilateral ties to restore regional peace and security, especially in Afghanistan.
The two parties stressed that strengthening regional cooperation in order to bolster the international campaign against terrorism and extremism is a dire need today.
Having arrived in Pakistan’s capital, Zarif had deemed extremism and terrorism as the main threats against the regional peace and security adding “I will elaborate on the need for strengthening the campaign against terrorism and extremism in my address at the conference.”
The two-day conference opens today December 9 at ministerial level with attendance of more than 40 member and supporter countries as well as more 10 international and regional bodies aiming to strengthen cooperation to resolve issues and improve Afghanistan’s security.
Iran’s Zarif is scheduled to give a speech at the conference offering Iran’s positions and strategies to strengthen peace and stability in the heart of Asia especially Afghanistan and will meet several senior diplomats as well as his Chinese and Indian counterparts.
The Iranian FM might also meet the President of Afghanistan Ashraf Ghani during his one-day trip to Pakistan.
Foreign Ministers of Iran, China, Afghanistan, Pakistan, India, Turkey, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan are attending the conference.
Representatives from Russia as well as a US deputy secretary of state are also participating in the event.
Heart of Asia has 14 member states including Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, China, Russia, India, Azerbaijan Republic, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Turkey, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
The supporter countries include the US, Australia, Canada, Denmark, Egypt, France, Finland, Germany, Iraq, Italy, Japan, Norway, Poland, Spain, Sweden and Britain.
The first conference at the ministerial level was held in Turkey’s Istanbul in 2011 while the following sessions were hosted by Afghanistan, Kazakhstan and China in 2012, 2013 and 2014 respectively.
Because Turkey was one of initiators of the conference, the conference is also known as Heart of Asia-Istanbul Process.
