Alwaght- Iran, which in recent years by signing strategic partnership pacts with China and Russia stepped in the new world order, has maintained its "neighbors first" policy in its foreign relations and is seeking to bolster its interactions with regional powers.
As part of this policy, upgrading cooperation with Pakistan as one of the country's most important neighbor on its eastern borders has been on agenda of various Iranian governments. After historic visit to Islamabad of late Iranian Presidet Seyyed Ibrahim Raisi in mid-April last year, which led to further closeness of relations and signing of 8 cooperation documents for $5 billion trade, this time security and defense are put on agenda of the two countries.
In this connection, Major General Mohammad Bagheri, Chief of Staff of the Iranian Armed Forces, visited Islamabad on Monday for talks and consultations with Pakistani officials. During this trip, General Bagheri had an important meeting with Pakistani army chief General Asim Munir during which the two sides discussed the latest developments in bilateral cooperation as well as important regional and international issues.
Asim Munir, while welcoming the top Iranian general and the accompanying delegation, emphasized that: "This visit has taken place at a critical juncture. When the region is in a state of inflammation, both in the Islamic world and most importantly the Middle East issue, the Islamic ummah today is witnessing a vacuum in the unity of the Islamic world. The brutal killing of nearly fifty thousand people, the destruction of homes and the displacement of hundreds of thousands of people in Gaza are the result of the silence of the Islamic world."
Military and security cooperation top on agenda
Given the vastness of the Iranian and Pakistani borders, the issue of securing these borders has always been one of the areas of cooperation between the two countries, which was discussed during the meeting between Bagheri and Munir. The Pakistani army chief emphasized: "Our current solution is regional unity, especially between Iran and Pakistan."
Citing the defense and military consultations between the two countries on border security, Munir stated that Pakistan is taking necessary and immediate measures to stop terrorist movements. “The two great countries of Iran and Pakistan are jointly seeking understanding in all related matters.”
Munir expressed concern about the establishment of terrorist groups in the region, adding: “Iran and Pakistan are at the center of this threat, so our relations must be further improved, because we believe in sustainable security on the border with Iran.”
Bagheri, for his part, expressed his pleasure at the visit to Pakistan and meeting with the country’s army chief again, thanking Islamabad for its condemnation of Israeli regime’s aggression against Iran, as well as the recent operation by Pakistani security forces against elements of Jaish al-Adl terrorist group.
Bagheri said that Tehran has initiated fundamental measures to block the borders so that all travel between the two countries can be carried out through official crossings. He added: “We must be coordinated at the borders and our immediate exchange of information must also lead to immediate operations against terrorists.”
The issue of terrorism and security is so important to the officials of the two countries that it was also discussed during Bagheri’s meeting with Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari.
While discussing the importance of strengthening security and intelligence cooperation in the fight against terrorism and common threats, Bagheri and Zardari stated that “close cooperation between Iran and Pakistan in this regard can help ensure security and stability on the borders of the two countries and the region.”
These meetings took place as the common land border of Iran and Pakistan has been the scene of deadly clashes over the past year, and a number of Iranian border guards were killed by terrorist groups hiding in Pakistan.
Tehran officials have repeatedly called on Islamabad to take more measures to confront the terrorist safe havens present on its soil, but the negligence of the Pakistani side has allowed these terrorists to enter Iran’s eastern borders from time to time and cause insecurity. Pakistan itself is also not immune from terrorist attacks, and this is a common challenge of the two countries.
ISIS and Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) terrorists have repeatedly carried out terrorist operations in various cities of the country, and for this reason, over the past year, Tehran and Islamabad have reached agreements to confront terrorists on both sides of the border to prevent these groups from harming the stability and security of the two countries.
Here, the issue of bilateral and multilateral cooperation between the security services of the two sides grows in significance, so that they can in an interconnected system find common threats and cooperate together to eliminate the sources of threat. Therefore, Bagheri's visit can be an important step to strengthen cooperation in this field so that the shadow of terrorist threats disappears from the borders of the two countries in the future. Also, security and anti-terrorism cooperation can build trust and develop other areas of cooperation.
Since Iran and Pakistan are also members of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), they can share their achievements in combating terrorists with other neighbors within the framework of this regional organization, and if collective cooperation is established against these threats, the way of terrorist moves will be blocked.
Although direct confrontation with terrorist groups alone reduces these threats to some extent, other solutions are also needed to stamp out this security challenge.
Referring to the military interactions between Iran and Pakistan in the fields of training and defense, Bagheri said that increasing these communications, especially in the field of training and sharing of experiences, is an immediate need, and in this regard, the air force commanders of the two countries are in constant contact. "Coordinated patrol operations on both sides of the border and simultaneous and coordinated exercises must be carried out."
The Pakistani side also invited Iran to participate in the upcoming international exercise in Karachi, and Bagheri, in turn, announced Iran’s readiness to hold joint naval exercises with Pakistan. Referring to Iran’s strong presence at the recent international arms exhibition in Pakistan, the top Iranian military official said: "We are ready to cooperate with Pakistan for the joint production of defense equipment.”
Since sanctions on Iran will end in October and if the West does not play foul, Iran and Pakistan can increase military exchanges and meet some of their military needs through arms purchases. Iran had previously reached an agreement with Tajikistan on the sale and production of drones in this country, and given Iran’s capabilities in this field, Pakistan can also benefit from these weapons.
Boosting border markets
More than 900 kilometers of common borders is a good option for establishing border markets and officials of the two countries have discussed the issue. Welcoming activation of border markets, Bagheri maintained that this process is a step towards ending smuggling and supporting official business activities.
The establishment of border markets is one of the objectives that Iran has placed at the top of its work programs in recent years, and cooperation has already been established in this field with Turkmenistan, Azerbaijan, Turkey, and Iraq. With their revival on the border with Pakistan, trade between local traders and investors on the border of the two countries will also flourish. Given that the border cities of the two countries are considered deprived areas, the reopening of these markets can help generate income and boost businesses and prevent smuggling.
Besides strengthening border markets, transit routes have also become more important for regional countries in recent years, and Iran, due to its location in the center of these transport corridors, plays an important role in trade between the East and the West. Pakistan and Iran, which are part of China's Road and Belt Initiative (RBI) and are along the railways from Central Asia to the Indian Ocean and the Caspian Sea, can have much to say in global trade by strengthening their railway infrastructure, and measures have also been taken to this end.
In order for these corridors to continue to work more effectively, there is a need to ensure security on transit routes, and Iran and Pakistan can make a significant contribution in this regard. Because the greater the security, the easier the trade and transportation process in the region will be. On the other hand, if the "Peace Pipeline" project to transport Iranian gas to Pakistan is also implemented, the cooperation between the two countries to ensure security on both sides of the borders will also increase.
Afghanistan, a topic of discussion
Afghanistan was one of the topics of discussion between Bagheri and Pakistani officials, and the two sides underscored the need to promote peace and stability in this Central Asian country. Having in mind that Afghanistan has been facing political and economic crises since the Taliban took power in August 2021, Iran and Pakistan have security concerns and have tried to restore stability to Afghanistan by helping it through regional meetings. Therefore, the more coordinated the two countries are in this regard, the more they can prevent the spread of Afghan insecurity to their territory.
Another important point that is guiding Iran and its eastern neighbor towards developing bilateral relations is Pakistan's changing view of the West. Until a few years ago, Pakistan was within the US-led camp for political and security drivers and Washington's pressure kept Islamabad from bolstering bilateral cooperation with Tehran, but in the past two years, relations between Pakistan and the US have gone chilly.
Given the global geopolitical changes, the US is now leaning towards partnership with India and Pakistan has somehow moved out of the Western orbit and joint that of China and Eastern camp. Therefore, Islamabad's breaking from the West is a good opportunity for boosting cooperation with neighboring Iran at all levels. Experience has shown that foreign powers do not contribute to crisis settlement and security of other countries and, thus, Iran and Pakistan can solve many problems together and meet their interests without need for intervention of foreign powers.
