Frontier patrols from both nations have been targeted in periodic clashes along the approximately 750-kilometer-long border.
Iranian Interior Minister Ali Larijani has announced that Iran and Pakistan would create a joint working group to oversee border management concerns between the two nations. The group will also address issues such as border security, commerce, and tourism between the two countries.
According to Iranian state-run IRNA, Iran's Interior Minister Ahmad Vahidi said at the end of a one-day visit to Pakistan's capital of Islamabad on Monday that both countries were aiming to boost participation in business connections.
"Relations between Iran and Pakistan, particularly in the economic area, should be strengthened and broadened," Vahidi said.
During his visit, Vahidi met with his Pakistani counterpart, Sheikh Rasheed Ahmed, as well as with Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan and the country's army head, General Qamar Javed Bajwa, among other officials.
Brigadier General Ahmad Ali Goudarzi of the Iranian Border Guards, as well as Colonel Mostafa Ghanbarpour of the Iranian military attache, accompanied the Iranian ambassador. Iran's Ambassador to Pakistan, Mohammad Ali Hosseini, was also there.
Pakistan and Iran are separated by a border of about 750 kilometers (466 miles), which runs across Pakistan's southwest and Iran's southeast. There have been periodic clashes along the border, with border police on both sides of the border being attacked.
As a result, at least 14 Iranian security personnel, including intelligence officers from Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, were kidnapped near the border in 2018, escalating tensions between the two nations.
The armed organization Jaish al-Adl, which is associated with al-Qaeda, claimed responsibility for the kidnappings and ransom demands.
Five of the troops were freed during the same year they were captured. In the year 2019, Pakistani security forces rescued four people. Iran said in 2021 that it has rescued two more of the servicemen.
An official statement from the Pakistani prime minister's office said that matters such as establishing border markets and "a convergence of views" on the situation in Afghanistan were also addressed during the meeting.
"[Pakistani Prime Minister Khan] highlighted the need of completing and operationalizing border sustenance markets as soon as possible in order to benefit the people living on both sides of the border," according to the statement.
PM Khan "expressed pleasure at the convergence of views on a peaceful and stable Afghanistan and highlighted the necessity of tight coordination between the two countries," according to the statement.
Aside from calling for immediate international action to avert a humanitarian disaster and economic collapse in Afghanistan, the prime minister emphasized the need of efforts to increase practical participation, promote stability, and combat terrorism.
According to a Pakistani military statement, Vahidi's discussions with Pakistan's army commander covered a number of topics that were similar to his previous discussions.
It was noted in the release that "[General Bajwa] said that increased collaboration between the two fraternal neighbours is essential for peace and security in the area."
As the Pakistan-Iran border is described as a "border of peace and brotherhood," [the army commander] emphasized the need of putting out concerted efforts to deny miscreants any space or liberty of action along the border.
SOURCE: NEWS AGENCIES
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