The Pakistani community in Tehran, Iran, celebrated the 66th Independence Day of Pakistan with great fervour and enthusiasm on Tuesday. Ambassador of Pakistan to Iran Khalid Aziz Babar hoisted the National Flag at Pakistan House to mark the occasion, said a press release received here from Tehran.
The messages of President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf were read out on the occasion. The Ambassador in his address paid tribute to martyrs of the independence struggle, who laid down their lives for the creation of Pakistan. He said that Pakistan was created by its founding fathers to be a homeland for the Muslims of South Asia where democracy, constitutionalism and respect of human rights would reign supreme.
It was envisaged to be a country with no discrimination on the basis of creed, gender and sect and where minorities would enjoy equal rights as citizens of the sate. On this day, all Pakistanis rededicate themselves to uphold these principles for which Pakistan was created.
On Pakistan-Iran relations, the Ambassador said, "Pakistan deeply treasures and values its fraternal ties with Iran. Our trust in each other and convergence of views on bilateral, regional and international issues have lent extra depth to our already strong ties. Being victims of terrorism, the two countries are determined to fight and eliminate this scourge and oppose it in all its forms and manifestations."
On economic relations, Ambassador Babar said that a number of important projects between the two countries were in the pipeline. These included the Iran-Pakistan Gas Pipeline project through which Pakistan will receive gas from Iran by December 2014; a project for the supply of 100 MW of electricity by Iran to the city of Gwadar in Pakistan; and a project for the supply of 1,000 MW of electricity from Zahidan to Quetta.
Conveying the grief and sorrow of the people and Government of Pakistan over the tragic earthquake that struck parts of Iran on August 11, the Ambassador assured the people of Iran that Pakistan would standby them in this hour of grief and provide all possible assistance to alleviate the sufferings of the affected people.