- The top military also discussed regional security, peace and stability efforts
- Border security has long been a major cause of distrust between Iran and Pakistan
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Army Chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa visited Tehran for security talks with Iranian military commanders, the Army’s media wing ISPR said on Monday night.
“COAS [Chief of Army Staff] met Major General Mohammad Hossein [Bagheri], chief of staff of the Iranian Armed Forces. Both discussed regional security environment, efforts for regional peace & stability and Pak-Iran Border Security Mechanism,” Major General Asif Ghafoor, director general of the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), said in a tweet.
Border security has long been a major cause of distrust in Pakistan-Iran relations.
In May, Pakistan began the fencing of certain areas along the 950-kilometer border it shares with Iran.
The border, which begins at the Koh-i-Malik Salih mountain and ends at Gwadar Bay in the Gulf of Oman, includes a diverse landscape of mountain ridges, seasonal streams and rivers, and is notorious for human trafficking and smuggling as well as cross-border militancy.
Relations between Pakistan and Iran have been strained in recent months. In April, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani announced that the two countries would form a joint quick-reaction force to combat militant activity on their shared border, following a deadly attack on Pakistani security personnel on the coastal highway in southwestern Balochistan, where 14 soldiers lost their lives.