Iran's President Hassan Rouhani met on Monday Pakistan’s Chief of Army Staff Qamar Javed Bajwa in Tehran where they exchanged views on bilateral relations and the security of the eastern Iranian border.
Rouhani demanded in a statement Monday to hunt down Kurdish armed groups three days after the death of eight Iranian border guards north-west of the country.
The President announced his country’s willingness to deepen and develop Tehran-Islamabad defense and military cooperation to consolidate stability and security in the region, according to Iranian presidency’s website.
"Military and defense cooperation of the two countries must be developed along with relations and cooperation in the fields of politics, economy and culture," Rouhani said.
"Given the will of the two governments of Iran and Pakistan to promote relations and cooperation between armed forces, cooperation can be promoted by developing training and joint maneuvers," he said, adding that the history of Iran and Pakistan's military and defense cooperation dates back to decades ago.
Rouhani also described terrorism and sectarian and ethnic disagreements as two main problems of the World of Islam today and emphasized the role of some powers in creating and reinforcing these problems and differences in the region, saying: "Powers do not have interest in unity and brotherhood among Muslims because if this unity and brotherhood is strengthened, then Islamic countries will be able to solve problems without the presence of outsiders.”
He also said that improving security of the common borders of the two countries is imperative.
"The borders between Iran and Pakistan should be frontiers of friendship, development and tourism between the two nations, and we should not allow some terrorist groups promote insecurity in these borders,” he explained.
The Iranian media reported Sunday that the visit of the Chief of Staff of Pakistan came as a response for the invitation of his Iranian counterpart Mohammed Baqeri.
The official IRNA news agency said Monday that Bajwa's three-day visit will witness negotiations with leaders of the Iranian armed forces on regional issues and areas of military and political cooperation.
Notably, Bajwa is the second chief of staff to visit Tehran in the past three months, as Turkish Chief of Staff Hulusi Akar also visited Tehran last month and met senior Iranian officials.
The visit followed a border tension between the two countries in May after 10 Iranian soldiers were killed by gunmen from the Baluchi separatist armed group.
Baqeri then threatened to target Pakistani territories, to which Islamabad responded by calling up the Iranian ambassador.
