Iran President Raisi arrives in Lahore
Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi on Tuesday morning arrived in Lahore on the second day of his three-day visit to Pakistan.
Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz received Raisi and his delegation at the Allama Iqbal International Airport. His visit to Pakistan is the first of its kind by any head of state after the February 8 general elections.
According to PTV News, Punjab Chief Secretary Zahid Akthar Zaman, Inspector General of Police Dr Usman Anwar and Iranian consul general in Lahore Mehran Movahhedfar were among those receiving him.
Senior provincial minister Marriyum Aurangzeb, Senator Pervaiz Rasheed and provincial ministers Uzma Bukhari, Mujtuba Shujaur Rehman, Khawaja Sulaiman Rafiq, Bilal Yasin, and Chaudhry Shafay Hussain were also present on the occasion.
The Iranian president then paid a visit to Allama Iqbal’s mausoleum, where he laid a floral wreath and offered fateha.
Speaking on the occasion, Raisi said he did not “feel like a stranger at all”, adding that there were “special emotions and connections” that kept the two nations connected.
The Foreign Office (FO) had stated earlier that Raisi would visit Lahore and Karachi and meet with the provincial leadership.
The Punjab government and Sindh governments have announced local holidays today (Tuesday) in the Lahore district and Karachi division, respectively, to “avoid the consequent inconvenience to the general public” ahead of the visit of foreign dignitaries, including Raisi. The Sindh government has also imposed a complete ban on drones in Karachi division from April 22 to April 28.
Later today, the Iranian president is expected to visit Karachi, where the University of Karachi will award an honorary doctorate degree to him, Radio Pakistan reports.
High-level meetings on 1st day
A day ago, Raisi had spent a busy day in Islamabad, where the two sides committed to increasing the trade volume to $10 billion over the next five years.
After his arrival in the capital, he had met with Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and later addressed a joint press conference, vowing to strengthen relations between both countries at “high levels”.
Later, Raisi also met with President Asif Ali Zardari where they agreed to reinforce existing ties. In his meeting with Chief of Army Staff General Asim Munir, the Iranian president discussed regional stability and border security.
Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar had called on Raisi as well while Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi and his Iranian counterpart Dr Ahmad Vahidi agreed on both two countries banning terrorist organisations in their respective countries.
Separately, the neighbours signed eight agreements and Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs) for cooperation in various fields. PM Shehbaz and Raisi also inaugurated the newly-constructed portion of Islamabad’s 11th Avenue after renaming it as Iran Avenue.
Significance of visit
Raisi’s visit to Pakistan had been in doubt as Middle East tensions rose after Iran launched an unprecedented missile and drone attack on Israel more than a week ago in retaliation for an airstrike on the Iranian consular building in Damascus earlier this month. Then, on Friday, central Iran received what was presumed to be an Israeli attack.
Tehran has played down the apparent Israeli attack and indicated it had no plans for retaliation, a response that appeared gauged towards keeping the conflict in Gaza from expanding to a regionwide conflict.
Pakistan has called on all parties in the Middle East to “exercise utmost restraint and move towards de-escalation”.
Raisi’s visit is also significant as Pakistan and Iran seek to mend ties after tit-for-tat missile strikes in January. The cross-border strikes stoked regional tensions already inflamed by Israel’s military offensive in Gaza.
Tehran carried out the strikes against an anti-Iran group in Pakistan the same week it targeted Iraq and Syria. Pakistan responded with a raid on “militant targets” in Sistan-Balochistan province. Both countries have accused each other of sheltering militants in the past.
Pakistan is also counting on a joint gas project with Iran to solve a long-running power crisis that has sapped its economic growth.
A $7.5 billion Iran-Pakistan gas pipeline intended to feed Pakistani power plants was inaugurated with great fanfare in March 2013. However, the project immediately stagnated following international sanctions on Iran.
Tehran has built its own section of the 1,800-kilometre pipeline, which should eventually link its South Pars gas fields to Nawabshah.
In February, the outgoing caretaker government in Pakistan approved the construction of an 80km section of the pipeline, primarily to avoid the payment of billions of dollars in penalties to Iran due to years of delays.
Washington has warned that Pakistan could face US sanctions, saying it does not support the pipeline going forward.
More to follow