Iran, Pakistan Open 3rd Border Crossing in “Historic Achievement”

By Staff, Agencies

Iran and Pakistan have opened their third official border crossing with the aim of facilitating business and trade exchanges and creating new job opportunities for their border residents.

Pakistani Minister for Defense Production Zobaida Jalal and Iran's Minister of Roads and Urban Development Mohammad Eslami traveled from their capitals to the border to open the Pishin-Mand crossing on Wednesday.

This is the second border crossing being opened between Iran and Pakistan since they threw open the Rimdan-Gabd gateway in December.

The new opening comes as Pakistan’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Shah Mehmood Qureshi is visiting Tehran.

“The opening of the Pishin-Mand crossing is a great and historic achievement for the two countries, which shows the commitment of the government of Imran Khan to strengthen relations with Iran,” IRNA news agency quoted Jalal as saying at the opening.

It will serve the common interests of Iran and Pakistan, she said, pledging to use the capacity of the Pakistan ministry of defense to expand comprehensive cooperation on border management and boosting economic and defense relations.

Jalal said Tehran and Islamabad are on the path of deepening long-standing relations, and the increase in their border crossings manifests their determination and commitment to strengthen relations and improve the lives of their border residents.

“One of the goals of Pakistan's foreign policy and the government of Prime Minister Imran Khan’s vision is to develop relations with the Islamic Republic of Iran. We see the opening of the third official border with our neighbor as part of achieving this goal,” IRNA quoted her as saying.

The general Baluchistan area is an extensive plateau of rough terrain situated between Iran, Pakistan and Afghanistan, rife with a number of militant groups which often engage in armed banditry, drug trafficking and other subversive acts.

"Increasing the number of border crossings, while facilitating the achievement of common interests between Iran and Pakistan, will provide new job opportunities for border residents," Pakistani Foreign Ministry spokesman Zahid Hafiz Chaudhry told media in Islamabad.