ISLAMABAD: Acting Chairman of the Senate Saleem Mandviwalla said on Tuesday that Pakistan was keen to see rapid progress on the Iran-Pakistan gas pipeline project and the government would pursue the project as it was in the interest of the country.

He expressed the hope that the project would soon see the light of day. Talking to Ambassador of Iran Mehdi Hunardost at the Parliament House, Mr Mandviwalla underscored the need for increasing volume of trade and investment between the two countries.

He also stressed the need for reactivating the Pakistan-Iran Investment Company as it was in the interest of both countries to have a proper channel for bilateral trade and investment.

In a meeting with neighbouring country’s envoy, acting chairman of Senate calls for reactivating Pakistan-Iran Investment Company

Mr Mandviwalla said that Pakistan and Iran shared identical views on regional and international issues and there was a huge scope of expanding bilateral ties.

He also emphasised the need for activating Pakistan-Iran parliamentary friendship group to enhance cooperation at parliamentary level through frequent exchanges. He said that both countries were intertwined in cultural, religious and regional commonalities besides sharing a vision for regional growth and prosperity.

The two sides, he said, could achieve a lot through frequent interactions at different levels for mutual benefit.

The Iranian envoy agreed with the views of Mr Mandviwalla, saying that Iran and Pakistan could achieve a lot through enhanced interactions and bilateral cooperation.

He said that bilateral trade and investment was in the interest of both countries and would open up new avenues of bilateral cooperation.

Published in Dawn, July 11th, 2018