Iranian President Syed Muhammad Khatami on Monday said Iran wanted the lingering issue of Kashmir to be resolved in line with wishes of the Kashmiri people. He made these remarks during 50-minute meeting with Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz on the sidelines of the ECO meeting to be held on Tuesday.
Prime Minister Aziz thanked the Iranian President for his support on the Kashmir issue. He briefed him on the ongoing composite dialogue process between Pakistan and India.
Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz said the two countries had decided to upgrade the status of Joint Economic Commission and it would now be represented by the Prime Minister of Pakistan and Vice President of Iran.
It was also agreed to take forward the issue of Free Trade Agreement amongst Pakistan, Iran and Turkey.
On the issue of Iran-India-Pakistan gas pipeline, the Prime Minister said he told Iranian President that it was time to move forward.
He said a trilateral ministerial commission should be formed to sort out the gas pipeline issue. He further suggested that feasibility work on Pakistan-Iran part of the pipeline should be started immediately.
The prime minister pointed out Pakistan was the only country in the region which had an extensive gas distribution network. He said Iran had agreed work on Pakistan-Iran portion of the pipeline should be undertaken.
Shaukat Aziz said he would also be having informal talks with the Turkish head of the delegation to the ECO Summit on the subject.
Talking to reporters the prime minister said bilateral ties and regional issues including the situation in Afghanistan, Iraq and Pakistan-India relations had come under discussion during his meeting with the Iranian President.
He said there was a unanimity of views between the two countries on all issues.
He further told Pakistan and Iran had also agreed to increase airline traffic to promote people to people contacts. Similarly, opening of bank branches and investment companies in each other's countries were also emphasised during the meeting.
The prime minister said they also discussed the challenges facing the Muslim Ummah and the need for the Islamic world to make collective efforts to project Islam in its true perspective as the religion of peace and tolerance.
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