Pakistan and Iran agree to work together to improve security after tit-for-tat airstrikes
The Hindu
Pakistan and Iran agree to improve security cooperation after deadly airstrikes, aiming to resolve issues through dialogue and respect sovereignty.
Pakistan and Iran on January 29 agreed to work together to improve security cooperation in the wake of deadly airstrikes by Tehran and Islamabad earlier this month that killed at least 11 people, marking a significant escalation in fraught relations between the neighbors.
The development came after the top Iranian diplomat, Hossein Amirabdollahian, held talks in Islamabad with his Pakistani counterpart, Jalil Abbas Jilani. The Iranian Foreign Minister also met with Pakistan’s caretaker Prime Minister Anwaarul-Haq-Kakar.
Iran-Pakistan ties were dramatically imperiled on Jan. 17, when Iran launched airstrikes in Pakistan’s restive southwestern Baluchistan province, targeting what Tehran said were hideouts of the anti-Iran Sunni militant group Jaish al-Adl, or the Army of Justice. Pakistan said two children were killed and tree others were wounded.
Angered over the strikes, Pakistan recalled its ambassadors from Tehran and launched airstrikes against alleged militant hideouts inside Iran, in the Sistan and Baluchestan province, killing at least nine people. Islamabad said it was targeting Baluch militant groups with separatist goals.
At a joint news conference later on January 29, Mr. Amirabdollahian and Mr. Jilani said they would work through existing channels in their leadership, diplomatic and military levels to cooperate with each other.
Mr. Jilani said the two countries were able to bring the “situation back to normal in the shortest possible time” after the airstrikes because both sides had agreed to resume dialogue to resolve all issues.
“Terrorism poses a common challenge to our countries," Mr. Jilani said and stressed that “respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity remains the immutable and foundational principle of this cooperation" between the neighbors.
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