Pakistan, Iran aim to raise bilateral trade to $10 bn
Islamabad
Pakistan and Iran on Sunday signed agreements pledging to raise bilateral trade to $10 billion and committed to work more closely to eliminate the menace of terrorism in favour of peace and prosperity in the region.
Agreements across various sectors, including energy and trade, were signed during the two-day visit of Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian.
'We have set a target of $10 billion in trade and hope to achieve it as soon as possible,' Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said.
Addressing a joint press briefing Sharif reiterated Pakistan's stance of supporting Iran's right to a nuclear programme for peaceful purposes under the UN charter and condemned Israel's aggression against Iran saying there was 'no justification.'
He said the two countries would take effective steps to eliminate terrorism and open the avenues of prosperity in the region.
The Iranian president said he thinks reaching the $10 billion trade mark - which would represent a more than three-fold increase in trade - is doable.
'My deep belief is that we can easily, in a short time, increase the volume of our trade relations from the current $3 billion to the projected goal of $10 billion,' Pezeshkian said.
He thanked the government and people supporting Iran 'during the 12-day terrorist aggression by the Zionist regime and the United States.'
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