ISLAMABAD: Iran’s Minister for Interior Ahmad Vahidi arrived in Islamabad on a day-long tour Monday for high-level talks to strengthen bilateral relations and cooperation, including discussions on border management.
Received His Excellency Dr. Ahmed Vahidi, Interior Minister of Islamic Republic of Iran as he reached #Pakistan on a day visit.
Matters of mutual Interest would the discussed at the delegation level meetings between Pakistan and Iran Interior ministries.@IRIMFA_EN pic.twitter.com/vUfK3XwckD— Sheikh Rashid Ahmed (@ShkhRasheed) February 14, 2022
His Pakistan counterpart Sheikh Rasheed Ahmed and Tehran’s ambassador in Islamabad Mohammad Ali Hosseini received Vahidi at Nur Khan air base in Rawalpindi. Officials from Pakistan’s Ministry of Interior and a group of Iranian diplomats were also present on the occasion.
The visit by Vahidi — a former commander of Tehran’s Quds Force, the arm of its Revolutionary Guards that controls its allied militia abroad — follows a string of militant attacks in Balochistan which shares a 959-kilometre-long porous border with Iran.
Ten soldiers were martyred in an attack on a checkpoint in Kech on January 28, while another nine troops and 20 militants were killed in an operation to regain control of two security camps in Panjgur and Nushki towns from fighters of the proscribed Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA).
The authorities believe the militants were launching these attacks from Afghanistan and Iran, and said they would raise the issue on the diplomatic level with both nations.
Sources informed Pakistan Today that Islamabad raised the matter of the purported involvement of elements from Iran in providing refuge and arms to militant groups active in Balochistan.
The official said Islamabad lodged a protest with Tehran over the recent attacks claimed later by BLA. Vahidi, the source said, would discuss measures to clamp down on these groups.
“Iranian Interior Minister Ahmad Vahidi along with a nine-member delegation arrive in Pakistan,” the Ministry of Interior said in a statement.
In a meeting with Ahmed, the two leaders will “discuss [matters related to] Pakistan-Iran border management and implementation of the prisoner exchange [agreement],” the statement added.
During his visit, the minister will also call on Prime Minister Imran Khan, Army Chief Gen. Qamar Javed Bajwa, Ahmed and other officials.
This is Vahidi’s first visit to Pakistan as Iran’s Minister of Interior since his appointment in August.
