Iranian Army Chief to visit Pakistan with high level military delegation

Iranian Army Chief to visit Pakistan with high level military delegation

ISLAMABAD/TEHRAN – Chief of Staff of the Iranian Armed Forces Major General Mohammad Hossein Baqeri will lead a high-ranking military delegation during his three-day visit to Pakistan, starting tomorrow (Sunday).

Bageri is to visit Pakistan at the invitation of his Pakistani counterpart General Qamar Javed Bajwa, the state-run IRNA reported.

The two sides will discuss defence cooperation, border security, fighting terrorism and regional developments.

The visit comes after Iran, Pakistan, Russia and China recently agreed to join efforts in fighting Daesh, or the so-called ‘Islamic State’ (ISIS) in the neighbouring Afghanistan.

The quartet also agreed on confronting “all other terrorists groups” in the Central Asian country.

The meeting also discussed ways to stop the infiltration of Daesh terrorists from Iraq and Syria into Afghanistan. The participants further agreed to share intelligence towards fighting terror.

Around 10,000 Daesh terrorists were functioning actively in nine provinces in Afghanistan.

Pakistani army chief Bajwa visited Tehran last November after 10 Iranian border guards were killed and two others injured in an ambush near the town of Mirjaveh in the southeastern Iranian province of Sistan-Balochistan, which borders Pakistan.

The upcoming visit by Baqeri is also expected to feature assessment of the progress made in the implementation of the agreements reached between the two countries during Bajwa’s visit.