The Cabinet has turned down observations of Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) over a proposed security cooperation agreement between Pakistan and Iran, official sources told Business Recorder here on Friday.
Basically, the Interior Ministry, headed by Advisor to Prime Minister, Rehman Malik, intends to ink security cooperation with Iran, aimed at better interaction between the two neighbouring countries, sources said.
They said that the Interior Ministry had forwarded the draft of agreement on "Security cooperation between Pakistan and Iran', sent by Iranian Embassy in Islamabad, through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, to the Ministries of Foreign Affairs and Narcotics Control, Intelligence Bureau (IB) and Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) for comments.
All concerned ministries and organisations had supported initiation of talks with Iran, but ISI suggested that the new agreement would be in supersession of all previous MoUs/agreements on security. However, the Ministry of Interior, which was the mover of the summary, did not agree with the comments of ISI, and clarified that the previous MoUs/agreements covered other issues, such as extradition, border security, etc. Sources said that the Cabinet sided with the Interior Ministry and turned down the reservations of ISI.
They said that reservations were expressed on the reported erection of a fence by Iranians on their side of the border which not only affected bilateral trade but also the families on both sides of the border. The Cabinet was, however, informed that the issue of Pak-Iran border was a sensitive matter due to cross-border activity and these sensitivities should be discreetly managed within the overall objective of ensuring a stable border.
According to sources, Interior Ministry explained the imperatives of the proposed agreement in the context of war against terror, and articles of the proposed agreement were explained to highlight their scope and some other implications.
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