With the recent trip of Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmedinejad and Afghanistan’s President Hamid Karzai, Pakistan’s ties with its two Western neighbours seem to be strengthening.
“The presidents of the three countries, at their summit, agreed to bolster their counter-terrorism and counter-narcotics cooperation despite bitterness during bilateral parleys between Pakistan and Afghanistan over allegations related to Taliban,” a report in this newspaper said on Saturday.
Later on Saturday, Pakistan reportedly agreed to launch an operation against banned militant organisation Jandullah on the insistence of the Iranian president.
The two countries have also agreed to carry on working on the gas pipeline, with Iran saying it will honour the commitment despite international sanctions against it.
Will the two countries be able to turn the gas pipeline project into a success?
How vital is it for Pakistan to have strong relations with Iran?
Can Pakistan sustain strong ties with Iran and Afghanistan?
Dawn.com invites its readers to share their views and opinions.
i wish firm relation ship with iran and every muslim country around the globe.iran can surely be the country which we can keep in mind for setting an example,also that afghanistan needs to be part of the friend ship bond as well
The geo-political situation around the world is changing very fast, last year Arab spring and now global recession and change of foreign policy shifts in international establishment has made Pakistan, Iran and Afghanistan a global flash point. Western establishment is looking for exit strategy from Afghanistan, they also have to make it sure that China and Russia wont gain upper hand by controlling the world oil supply routes and energy corridors of Central Asia. USA doesnt need Pakistan now as the war has almost finished and they keep on mounting pressure on Pakistan to do more. Pakistan need to strengthen good relations with all its neighbours because of changing global scenario.
Is Iran ready to downgrade its strong political ,economic and strategic relationship with india and is Pakistan ready to break its relationship with the Gulf countries particularly Saudi Arabia.
Why should we break our relationship with Saudi Arabia who has done more for us than Iran has in the past three decades, since the Ayatollahs took power in Iran? Our friends are not the Iranians, our friends are the Saudis, who have always supported us and helped us.
Well,
Mr. Mustafa
your logic is not impressive, because Pakistan must establish it’s strong relation with it’s neighbors with judgements,but we must not leave other nations alone without friendship. our (pakistan’s) prosperity will improve while keeping our relation strong with our neighbors. Noor. From Canada
By sending hate mongers and pumping money to sectarian groups in Pakistan
I think Saudi Arabia has done more damage to Pakistan than any other country in the world. As to friendship with Iran, I think, our friendship with one country should not be dependent on our friendship with another country! Saudi Arabia on the other hand enjoys very good relations with India and alot of Indian workers are employed in Saudi Arabia giving a tough competition to Pakistanis. If we take your logic then why doesn’t Saudi Arabia expels all Indians and hire Pakistanis???
We need to improve our relations with our neighbors,we need to have cross border programs and we need to invest in each others economies as a strong region keeps a lot of jackals(like the west) out of our business. Remember India (East India Company), Mexico (Spanish),the Native American Indians in America were the ones that suffered the most. If you are self sufficient and your neighbors are like you then the jackals and wolves walk by looking for weaker prey. BUT this all depends on you and your regional partnerships.