Pakistan, Iran signed 6 MoUs to strengthen bilateral relations

Pakistan and Iran on 25 March 2016 signed 6 Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs) to strengthen bilateral cooperation in health, commerce, finance and foreign services.

The MoUs were signed in Islamabad during Iranian President Dr Hassan Rouhani’s visit to Pakistan. This was the first visit by an Iranian head of state in 14 years to Pakistan and also the first visit after lifting of international sanctions on Iran.

Highlights of MoUs

1. MoU to enhance cooperation between Pakistan’s Foreign Service Academy and Iran’s School of International Relations

2. MoU for cooperation and information exchange between the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan and the Central Insurance of Iran

3. MoU on Five Year Strategic Trade Cooperation Plan: This is the key agreement among the 6 MoUs signed. It sets an ambitious target of 5 billion US dollars per annum bilateral trade in 5 years from the current 250 million US dollars.

4. MoU for cooperation on health research, training, medicine and medical technology

5. MoU on extending cooperation between the Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry and the Chamber of Commerce, Industries, Mines and Agriculture of Iran.

6. MoU on cooperation between the Institute for Political and International Studies of Iran and Karachi Council on Foreign Relations (KCFR) of Pakistan

Besides signing of the above agreements, Dr Hassan Rouhani and Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif discussed a wide range of bilateral and regional issues including opening new border crossings, possibilities of cooperation between Gwadar and Chabahar ports, export of electricity from Iran to Pakistan and counter terrorism cooperation.

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