Pakistani Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz highlighted his country’s close energy ties with Iran, and described Islamabad as a major customer for Iran’s gas supplies. Speaking during a meeting with an Iranian delegation of journalists and media and press directors in Islamabad on Friday, Aziz voiced his country’s eagerness to further expand ties with Iran in all the various areas.
“The raison detre of Pakistan’s foreign policy is interaction with all other countries on the basis of common interests and we do not want our relations with other countries to be blurred due to our ties with one single state,” he said, reminding that Islamabad regulates its relations with other countries on the basis of common interests.
Elsewhere, he pointed to regional developments, and stressed, “We will not establish relations with Israel until the issue of Palestine is resolved.”
Aziz also noted the recent meeting between the Pakistani and Zionist regime’s foreign ministers, and said, “This open meeting was aimed at announcing the stances of the Pakistani government to Israel.”
“We support the efforts made by the United Nations and other countries to resolve the Palestinian issue,” he added.
Regarding Iran’s nuclear issue, he underlined Iran’s inalienable right to access civilian nuclear technology, and said, “Using nuclear energy under the supervision of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) is Iran’s inalienable right.”
The Pakistani premier also pointed out that Tehran and Islamabad can play a more effective role in soothing regional tensions through consolidating their mutual ties.