Iran, Pakistan stress facilitating travels for their citizens

During the visit of a delegation from the Iranian Ministry of Roads and Urban Development to Karachi, Pakistan, the officials of the two countries reviewed a broad range of initiatives to facilitate the pilgrimage and tourism for Pakistani nationals during their visits to Iran and from there to Iraq and also to diversify the communication routes.

Sindh Information and Transport Minister Sharjeel Inam Memon hosted an Iranian delegation headed by Hamidreza Shehraki, the deputy Iranian road minister in Karachi on Wednesday.

Consul General of the Islamic Republic of Iran in Karachi Hassan Noorian and members of the Iranian delegation, including the officials of the Transport Association of Sistan and Baluchistan province, were also present in the meeting.

Expressing happiness with the friendly and positive attitude of the Islamic Republic of Iran to the development of bilateral relations with Pakistan, especially the strengthening of relations between the two countries’ peoples, the Pakistani minister said that the government and people of Pakistan appreciate the services and actions done by the Iranian side to facilitate the journeys for Pakistani pilgrims.

The Pakistan side reported about the meeting that the Iranian delegation announced in detailed talks with the Sindh minister that they were looking for diversifying the communication and travel routes for Pakistani tourists and visitors to Iran.

Noorian, Consul General of Iran in Karachi, stated in the meeting, “In order to facilitate the tourism and pilgrimage trips from Pakistan to Iran, direct land routes should be established between the two countries and from Iran to Iraq so that Pakistani buses can easily enter Iran. and continue their path to travel to Iraq. Of course, this requires talks with the Iraqi side, and we ask the Pakistani government to follow up on that issue.”

Noting that Muharram and Arbaeen are nearing, the Pakistani minister called for making the necessary efforts to issue a license by the Pakistan Aviation Organization to launch a direct flight between Karachi and Chabahar in Iran.

Considering that one of the Iranian companies has received the initial permission from Iran’s Civil Aviation Organization and the correspondence with the Civil Aviation Organization of Pakistan has also been done in that regard, the Pakistani minister promised to follow up on the matter after highlighting the necessity of facilitating trips for citizens of the two nations.

Also, some Pakistani shipping companies that have passenger ships have expressed their readiness to take travelers to Iran from the ports of Karachi and Gwadar in Pakista to Chabahar and Khorramshahr ports in Iran and then to Basra port in Iraq.

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