Pakistani senate chairman on 2-day visit to Mashhad

Chairman of Pakistan's Senate Syed Nayyer Hussain Bokhari arrived in the Holy City of Mashhad, in Northeastern Iran, on Monday. The Pakistani Senate chairman plans to meet the governor-general of Khorassan Razavi province and visit the holy shrine of the 8th Shiite Imam, Hazrat Reza (AS), in the provincial capital city of Mashhad. Pakistan’s consul general in Mashhad and head of the Iranian foreign ministry’s representative office in North and Eastern Iran accompany Bokhari during his two-day visit. Earlier this month, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani underlined Tehran’s enthusiasm for increasing development of the relations and cooperation with Pakistan, specially in political and economic fields. “Iran is ready to expand political and economic relations with Pakistan in a move to further promote and develop the level of economic cooperation between the two countries,” Rouhani said in a meeting with Islamabad’s incoming Ambassador to Tehran Nourmohammad Jadmani in Tehran on Saturday. He hailed the age-old and historical relations with Pakistan, and expressed the hope that cooperation between the two countries would further enhance in light of increased security and stability in Pakistan. Jadmani, for his part, announced that Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif plans to visit Iran in the near future, and said, “In addition to its serious will to develop economic relations and cooperation with Iran, Pakistan is determined to try to fight terrorism” which has been a major concern for both states. Iran and Pakistan already enjoy good bilateral relations. The two countries officially inaugurated the construction phase of a gas pipeline project in March 2013 which is due to take Iran's rich gas reserves to the energy-hungry South Asian nation.