The two countries have agreed to boost border security, exchange information on security matters, and increase cooperation in the campaigns against drugs and human trafficking, he said in Islamabad on Saturday.
The Iranian interior minister held separate meetings with Pakistani Interior Minister Rehman Malik and Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) Director Ahmad Shuja Pasha on Friday. Najjar also met with Pakistani Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani on Saturday.
Najjar said the Pakistani interior minister has promised to cooperate with Iran in the efforts to crack down on the Pakistan-based Jundullah terrorist group.
Najjar traveled to Pakistan to discuss the two countries’ response to the October 18 terrorist attack in Iran’s southeastern province of Sistan-Baluchestan in which at least 42 people were killed. Jundullah claimed responsibility for the attack.
To further strengthen security ties, it was agreed that the deputy interior ministers of Iran and Pakistan will meet in the near future, Najjar added.
He described the upcoming meeting between the governor of Iran’s Sistan-Baluchestan Province and the governor general of Pakistan’s Balochestan Province as “a positive and significant step” to resolve the security problems on the Iran-Pakistan border.
Najjar expressed hope that the Pakistani government will soon detain the members of Jundullah responsible for the recent attack and extradite them to Iran.
The Iranian interior minister also called his meeting with the Pakistani prime minister positive and constructive.
Commenting on the despicable actions of the Jundullah terrorist group, Najjar told Gilani, “Unfortunately, the criminal actions of the group have cast a shadow over bilateral ties between Tehran and Islamabad.”
Najjar also noted, “Iran and Pakistan can begin a new golden era of strategic cooperation by rooting out the Jundullah terrorist group.”
Prime Minister Gilani said that Pakistan is now facing a new wave of extremism and terrorism that requires serious efforts by both countries to resolve border security issues as quickly as possible.
Gilani also expressed hope that the Iranian interior minister’s visit would help expand and strengthen ties between Islamabad and Tehran.
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MNA
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