Pakistan's Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar has announced that Islamabad and Tehran have agreed to sign a free trade agreement to strengthen their trade relations during the visit of Iranian President Pezeshkian.
Pakistan and Iran called for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and an end to Israel's "expansionist agenda" to bring stability to the region.
The call was made by Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and the visiting Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian in the capital, Islamabad, on Sunday.
"No more words, but swift action is required to stop the killing of newborns, children, and women in Gaza, where not even a single street is safe for them," Sharif told a joint news conference.
He observed that Israel was using starvation as a weapon against Palestinians, where "every hour," children, women, and even newborns are dying because of the unavailability of water and food.
"The whole Islamic world and the civilised countries must stop this genocide; otherwise, history will not forgive us," Sharif said.
Sharing a similar view, Pezeshkian said that Israel has long been destabilising the whole region by attacking Lebanon and Syria and is now committing genocide in Gaza.
A regional and global consensus, including an alliance of the Islamic world, is essential to counter the "Zionist state's expansionist agenda," he added.
Kashmir
The Iranian leader thanked Pakistan and its people for their support during his country's 12-day war against Israel.
Sharif, in return, reiterated Pakistan's support for Iran's right to attain nuclear capability for "peaceful objectives and in accordance with the UN charter."
"Pakistan stands with Iran's principled stand in this regard," he added.
The premier also thanked Iran for its "consistent" support to Islamabad on the Kashmir issue.
Pezeshkian said if the two sides cooperate with each other in "all dimensions and fields," including trade and economy, the target of 10 billion dollars could be achieved "soon" from the current trade volume of $3 billion.
‘Common threat’
Noting that the terrorists operating along the border areas of the two countries are a "common threat" to both sides, he called for better border management and cooperation to counter the threat.
In return, Sharif said that Islamabad and Tehran have a common stand against terrorism, and no such activity would be allowed in Pakistan or Iran.
"We have to protect our borders and take strict steps against terrorism to open the roads to peace and development in the region," said Sharif.
The two sides inked a string of memoranda of understanding in the fields of information technology, law and justice, climate change, and tourism.
