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.
Pakistan army chief in Tehran to discuss regional security environment
Pakistan army chief in Tehran to discuss regional security environment
- 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
