ISLAMABAD — Spokesperson of the Pakistan Army has welcomed the recentoffer by the Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif to helpachieving a peaceful resolution of dispute between Pakistan and India.
Director General (DG) of the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) MajorGeneral Asif Ghafoor said this while responding to a question of IRNAcorrespondent at a special meeting with foreign media in Rawalpindi.
The meeting was held at army headquarters to brief the foreign media onrecent developments in the subcontinent as well as growing tensions betweenPakistan and India.
Earlier Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif in a phoneconversation with his Pakistani counterpart Shah Mehmood Qureshi had saidthat Iran is ready to play a mediatory to defuse tensions between the twostates.
Major General Asif Ghafoor in response to question of IRNA said that wefully support and encourage the offer of Iranian friends. “This is what weexpect from our friend and brotherly country of Iran,” he said.
He expressed his gratitude to the Iranian government for the offer addingthat ‘Iran like our other friends Turkey and China has always followed abalanced policy on Pakistan-India ties.’
In response to another question from IRNA the spokesperson said thatPakistan is taking effective steps to strengthen security of border withIran and to stop terrorists from exploiting the border to carry out theiractivities and disturb the peace on joint border.
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He said that Pakistani border forces are taking extra measures to ensuresecurity of the border adding that Pakistan has also recently increased thenumber of troops at the border with Iran.
DG ISPR said that Pakistan is already fencing border with Afghanistanadding that this is not fencing against the people or the nation ofAfghanistan, but it is aimed at stopping the flow of terrorists who disturbthe peace of area.
He said Pakistan is also considering fencing the common border with Iran inorder to ensure security on border regions and the country would discussthe issue with Iranian brothers.
Major General Asif Ghafoor went on to say that Pakistan will continue tocooperate with Iran and noted that earlier with the efforts of Pakistanarmy five of the twelve abducted border guards were recovered safely andhanded over to Iranian authorities.
He said that Iran and Pakistan have excellent cooperation at all levels tostrengthen the security of joint border. He said that Pakistan and Iranenjoy strong brotherly ties which cannot be compared to Pakistan-Indiaties. – APP/IRNA
