Iran President Ebrahim Raisi keeps mum on Kashmir after Pakistan rakes up issue

Iran President Ebrahim Raisi reached Pakistan on Monday for a three-day official visit during which he is scheduled to meet the senior leadership of the country including the army chief Image Courtesy X/@ForeignOfficePk

Pakistan PM Shehbaz Sharif raised the Kashmir issue with visiting Iran President Ebrahim Raisi on Monday and thanked him for ‘supporting’ Pakistan’s stand on Kashmir.

However, in an apparent snub to his Pakistani hosts, the Iranian president decided to skip any mention of the Kashmir issue during his statement to the media following the meeting with Shehbaz Sharif.

Shehbaz Sharif and Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi also decided to work together to end terrorism while they deliberated how to foster cooperation between their nations.

Iranian President Raisi stated during a joint news conference that the current level of bilateral commerce between Iran and Pakistan is “not acceptable” and that the two countries have decided to raise it to USD 10 billion.

Iran President Ebrahim Raisi reached Pakistan on Monday for a three-day official visit during which he is scheduled to meet the senior leadership of the country including the army chief. This is the first time any head of state has visited Pakistan following the general elections on February 8.

According to a statement by Pakistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Pakistan’s ambassador to Iran, Mudassir Tipu, and Housing Minister Mian Riaz Hussain Pirzada accorded the Iranian president a warm welcome upon his arrival at the Islamabad Airport.

According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Iranian president is accompanied by his spouse and a high-level delegation that includes the foreign minister, additional Cabinet members, and senior officials.

Iranian President Raisi is expected to visit President Asif Ali Zardari, thus he has a packed itinerary while in Pakistan. Speaker of the National Assembly Ayaz Sadiq, Senate Chairman Yusuf Raza Gilani, and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif.

According to the Foreign Office, he will also with the provincial leaders on his visits to Lahore and Karachi. Raisi is scheduled to visit Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif today, and there will also be a series of delegation-level meetings between the two nations, as reported by Radio Pakistan.

The visiting dignitary would be given a guard of honor upon their arrival at the Prime Minister House. In honor of Earth Day, the Iranian president and Prime Minister Shehbaz will plant a seedling in the PM’s house, the statement added. They will also be present for the signing of memorandums of understanding for mutual cooperation in a number of disciplines.

The visit by the Iran president to Pakistan comes months after the two neighbors carried out tit-for-tat airstrikes against suspected terrorist hideouts in each other’s territory.

Iran surprised Pakistan in January by launching airstrikes against suspected terrorist hideouts in the volatile province of Balochistan, severely straining relations between the two neighbors.

Pakistan reacted quickly, carrying out “precision military strikes” against what it described “terrorist hideouts” in Iran’s Sistan-Balochistan province with killer drones and rockets, killing nine people in the process.

Nonetheless, the two parties moved quickly to use diplomatic channels to cool tensions. It’s anticipated that Raisi’s visit will strengthen the bilateral relationship.