Iranian President Dr. Ibrahim Raisi will make an official visit to Pakistan from April 22 (Monday) to April 24 (Wednesday), the Foreign Office (FO) announced on Sunday. The FO announced in a statement that this would be the first state visit to Pakistan by a head of state since the general elections on February 8. “The foreign minister and other cabinet members, senior officials, and a sizable business delegation will be traveling with the Iranian president, along with his spouse,” the FO stated. It stated that Raisi would meet with Speaker of the National Assembly Ayaz Sadiq, Senate Chairman Yousaf Raza Gillani, President Asif Ali Zardari, and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif.
It said, “He will also travel to Lahore and Karachi and meet with the provincial leadership.” “Both parties will pursue a comprehensive agenda to fortify Pakistan-Iran relations and augment collaboration in various domains such as commerce, connectivity, energy, farming, and interpersonal interactions,” the FO stated. “They will also talk about bilateral cooperation to fight the shared threat of terrorism, as well as regional and global developments,” the statement continued. Strong bilateral relations based on shared history, culture, and religion exist between Iran and Pakistan. The FO stated that this visit offers a significant chance to further improve Pakistan-Iran ties.
The visit takes place many months after Iran initiated attacks in Pakistan, according to Iranian state media, against what it claimed to be bases for the militant organization Jaish al-Adl in the Balochistani border town of Panjgur. This led to Islamabad strongly denouncing Iran’s actions and downgrading diplomatic ties. Pakistan attacked terrorist strongholds in the Sistan-Baluchestan province of Iran in less than 48 hours. Iran responded to the recent strikes by stating that it would not allow any harm to come to its friendly and brotherly relations with Islamabad. On April 13, President Zardari had a phone conversation with Raisi, where he emphasized the need for both nations to exchange information to overcome security challenges.
