Edited by Nasser Kan’ani, the ministry spokesman and director of the Center for Public Diplomacy, the latest issue reviews President Ebrahim Raeisi’s historic visit to China as well as Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian’s visit to Geneva and speech at the United Nations Human Rights Council.
In the editorial, Kan’ani writes that the current issue has been dedicated to “our friend, brother and neighbor, the Islamic Republic of Pakistan”, describing ties between the two Muslim-majority Asian countries as “deeply rooted.”
Seyyed Rasool Moosavi, director general for South Asia at the foreign ministry, in his article, describes Pakistan as “a generous, charming and amiable neighbor” for the Islamic Republic of Iran.
He writes in detail about the nature and beauty of Pakistan as well as its history and geography, referring to Mohenjo-daro as the “most important monument which proves the historical identity of the land of Pakistan with a magnificent civilization dating back to 5,000 years.”
In his article, Seyyed Mohammad Ali Hosseini, Iran’s ambassador to Islamabad, notes that relations between Iran and Pakistan began soon after the partition of British India and the creation of Pakistan, adding that Iran was “the first country to recognize Pakistan’s independence.”
“With the victory of the Islamic Revolution of Iran, Pakistan was the first country to recognize the Islamic Republic of Iran,” he writes. “Since then, relations and cooperation between the two countries in various political, economic, cultural, military and security dimensions have been growing and consolidating.”
In the economic sphere, the envoy maintains, the two countries are complementing each other well, and that the Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO) has “provided a suitable framework for bilateral cooperation” between them. In the political arena, he says relations are “in a satisfactory state.”
Fahimeh Damroodi, Secretary General of the Iran-Pakistan Joint Chamber of Commerce, states that the two countries with a combined population of more than 300 million people “must take practical steps to fully profit from their economic capacities.”
She cites the latest figures from Iran’s Customs Administration that show Iran exports more than 119 commodities to Pakistan, from cheese and fruit to construction materials and petrochemical products.
“Considering the existing potential between the two countries and if the necessary infrastructure is provided, especially by the establishment of banking relations and signing a free trade agreement, the value of bilateral trade can rise to at least five billion dollars,” Damroodi writes.
Morteza Rezavanfar, a faculty member at Iran’s Cultural Heritage Research Center, in his article, introduces the Alamgir Mosque in Lahore as “one of the most magnificent historical structures in Pakistan”, built between 1671 and 1673 AD by the order of Mughal-era ruler Aurangzeb.
Ali Rajabi Yazdi, a member of the journal’s editorial board, presents a short history of relations between Iran and Pakistan after they formally established diplomatic ties on February 18, 1950.
Mohammad Baqaee Makan, author and translator, pays tribute to Mohammad Iqbal Lahori, known as the ‘Poet of the East’, describing him as the “most Iranian non-Iranian.”
“Iqbal from Lahore reflects the character of a philosopher, poet, reformist, educator, socialist, founder of an independent country, lawyer, Quran researcher, Iranologist, linguist, historian and Islamologist,” he writes.
“The sum of these features, which can be rarely found in someone else, has given him an individuality that his admirers consider as “prophet-like” as in the great thinkers of history.”
MNA/PressTV
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