Khwaja Asif to visit Iran in January

Defence Minister Khawaja Asif is scheduled to visit Iran in January to discuss ways to develop more defence co-operation with the neighbouring country. He will also talk to Iranian officials on bilateral and regional issues, IRNA reported on Saturday. The Iranian news agency quoted an unnamed Pakistan defence official as saying Iran is a friendly country to both Pakistan and India could play as a mediator to reduce old tensions between the regional rivals. The top defence official said.
"The history of Pakistan and India ties shows that bilateral efforts have failed so far to resolve or reduce tensions and if there is a third party that can play the role of a mediator, Pakistan will welcome it and this third party can be Iran or any other influential regional or non-regional state." Iran, regarding its powerful diplomacy and friendly ties with both India and Pakistan, can be one of the best options to intervene between Islamabad and New Delhi.
Responding to a question regarding some reports of the US media that Washington is looking forward to signing a nuclear deal with Islamabad to impose restrictions on Pakistan's nuclear arms, the official described his country's nuclear arsenal as strategic means of deterrence to prevent possible threats against Pakistan. He emphasised that Pakistan would never sign a deal with any country that could result in weakening its defence and deterrence power.
Counting the reasons of Pakistan's refusal to join Saudi-led war against Yemen, the official said, "Pakistan already has a bitter experience of military intervention and joining war in Afghanistan and does not want to repeat the same mistake for a second time." He further said that Pakistan is not in favour of any move against Muslim Ummah and strongly believes that all Muslim nations need to get united against anti-Muslim conspiracies. At the same time, Pakistani defence official reiterated that Pakistan, as a Muslim nation, will do its best to defend the holy Haramain Sharefain if they come under serious threat.
Commenting on Pakistan-Afghanistan ties, the official said that the neighbouring countries need to revive mutual trust. Referring to a recent visit by some Pakhtun leaders of Pakistan to Kabul at an invitation extended by President Ashraf Ghani, Pakistan's top defence official described the measure by President Ghani as a positive step forward to rebuild mutual trust in bilateral ties.