Iran asks Pakistan to join, supports Kashmir cause

IRAN’S TIES WITH INDIA NOT AGAINST PAKISTAN AS IT UNDERSTANDS PAKISTAN’S RELATIONS WITH SAUDI ARABIA ARE NOT AGAINST IRAN, SAYS FOREIGN MINISTER JAVAD ZARIF

Iran has invited China and Pakistan to participate in the development of the strategic Chabahar port and extended support to the right of self-determination for the people of Jammu and Kashmir.

Foreign minister Javad Zarif, on a three-day visit to Islamabad, asked Pakistan to take a role in developing the port in the Gulf of Oman while speaking on Monday at the Institute of Strategic Studies Islamabad, a think tank backed by Pakistan’s foreign ministry.

“We offered to participate in the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC). We have also offered Pakistan and China to participate in Chabahar,” he said.

A statement issued by Pakistan’s Foreign Office following a meeting between Zarif and his counterpart Khawaja Asif on Monday said both sides had “reiterated support for the peaceful struggle of the peoples of Palestine and Kashmir for their right to self-determination”.

During his meeting with Zarif, Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi thanked the Iranian leadership for its “steadfast support” to the struggle of the Kashmiris.

Zarif’s invitation to Pakistan to join the development of Chabahar came less than a month after India and Iran inked an agreement to lease operation control of a part of the port to New Delhi for 18 months.

India is set to start operations in this part of Chabahar with borrowed Iranian equipment by May-end. The port is a crucial part of India’s plans to create a transport and trade corridor to landlocked Afghanistan by bypassing Pakistan.

However, Zarif sought to allay Pakistan’s concerns about India’s involvement in Chabahar, saying that the project was not meant to “encircle Pakistan” or “strangulate anybody”. He said Iran will not allow anybody to use its soil to hurt Pakistan, just as Islamabad will not allow its soil to be used against Tehran.