Balochistan Governor, Owais Ahmed Ghani and Governor General of Iranian province of Sistan Balochistan, Hussain Amini signed an agreement here on Monday declaring both the provinces as twins. The signing ceremony was held at Governor House, which was also attended by higher authorities of both the provinces besides Balochistan Ministers, MPAs, MNAs and other senior officials.
Speaking on the occasion, Owais Ghani termed the day as a historic day for both the people of Iran and Pakistan and said that the signing of the agreement would go a long way in further cementing the already existing bonds of friendship, Islamic brotherhood and strong religious, social, cultural and economic relations between the two countries.
"Besides, it will also prove helpful for growth of business, trade and co-operation in multiple fields between the two countries particularly the two provinces", he added.
"We have held fruitful meetings with Hussain Amini and his delegation and discussed the prospects and opportunities of co-operation in various fields including business, trade, agriculture, livestock, minerals, handicrafts, tourism and small industries, he informed.
Iran and Pakistan share a common history, he said, and added that they both had also suffered colonialism against which they had rendered innumerable sacrifices to secure their prestige and dignity as a nation.
The governor underlined the need for developing better co-operation among the Muslim countries in the wake of the crises and challenges confronting them and warned that the Muslim nations would succumb to those crises if they did not get united and removed their mutual differences.
"President Musharraf has repeatedly stressed the need for infusing a new life and spirit in Organisation for Islamic Countries (OIC) to resolve the differences among the Muslim countries and forging unity among them", he maintained.
Governor General of Sistan Balochistan Hussain Amini expressed his pleasure over signing of the agreement and said that it would help a lot both the provinces to further improve their relations in multifarious sectors.
"We held talks with the Balochistan Government authorities on various aspects of further cementing our bilateral relations in different fields, which proved positive", he said and added that they had also reviewed promotion of trade ties and exchange of delegations between the two provinces.
"We also discussed holding of joint exhibitions in Quetta and Zahidan to promote our cultural relations", he maintained.
He said the Iranian President Mohammad Khatimi gave due importance to promotion of Iran's relations with its neighbouring countries particularly with Pakistan.
The Pakistani province of Balochistan and Iranian province of Satan Balochistan shared a number of common things including geography, demography, culture and the like, he said and expressed the hope that the twining of the both the provinces would further strengthen the bilateral relations between the two provinces. Later, both the governors formally signed the agreement.