Leaders of Iran and Pakistan jointly inaugurated the first marketplace and a power transmission line along their shared border in a significant move aimed at boosting regional trade and energy cooperation as relations warm between the two countries.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Thursday announced that Iran will supply 100 megawatts of electricity daily to Balochistan’s Gwadar.
For years, Iran has shown interest in the port of Gwadar, which is a Beijing-funded infrastructure and part of China’s $65 billion Belt and Road Initiative.
The Pakistani prime minister made the announcement at a media briefing after he and Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi inaugurated the transmission line project and the marketplace at the Mand-Pishin border crossing point.
Located in the remote village of Pashin in Pakistan’s southwestern Baluchistan province, the marketplace is the first of six to be constructed along the Pakistan-Iran border under a 2012 agreement signed by the two sides.
In a televised meeting, Sharif, sitting next to Raisi, assured him Pakistan would do its best to improve security along the Iranian border. He added that both sides agreed to enhance trade and economic ties, and extended an invitation to Raisi to visit the Pakistani capital, Islamabad, according to AP.
For his part, Raisi described the relations between the two nations as “exemplary.”
He said the cooperation between Iran and Pakistan can establish stable security in the region and the cooperation between the two countries in the economic, commercial, and scientific and technology fields can contribute to the development of the two countries.
The Border Sustenance Marketplace is located in the village of Pashin in the Baluchistan province, southwest of Pakistan.
Iran-Pakistan relations have been contentious because of cross-border attacks by Pakistani militants along their shared border.
Small separatist groups have been behind a long-running insurgency calling for Baluchistan’s independence from the central government in Islamabad. Pakistani anti-Iran militants have also targeted the Iranian border in recent years, increasing the friction between the two countries.
This is the first visit of its kind since 2013, when the two nations signed an agreement allowing Pakistan to import Iranian gas despite American opposition. Tehran at the time said that “the West has no right to block the project.” The agreement could not be implemented because of US sanctions on Iran.
“Today, the two countries see the border as an opportunity and not a threat, and consider any insecurity on the other side as insecurity for themselves,” Raisi said.
