ISMAIL DILAWAR
KARACHI: Dubbing the present time as an era full of turmoils and ambiguous conceptual transitions, Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister Dr Muhammad Kazem Sajjadpour urged the need for Islamabad and Tehran to nurture the strong religio-civilizational bonds the two countries have for the benefit of their peoples.
“In such a difficult time we have no other option but to work together for our survival, for our well being, security and the protection of our heritage,” the Iranian official told an audience here at Pakistan Institute of International Affairs on Thursday.
Also, he later attended and spoke at an interactive session on “Pakistan-Iran Relations: The Emerging Realties” organised here at a local hotel by Karachi Council on Foreign Relations (KCFR).
Flanked by Iranian Consul General in Karachi Mehdi Sobhani and other delegates, Dr Muhammad analyzed Pak-Iran bilateral ties in the backdrop of prevailing conflicting trends and transitions in international relations which, the doctor of philosophy said, were marked by turmoils on all “shocking” levels.
These turmoils, he said, were haunting the very concept of nation states on institutional and mental levels. Britain’s June 23 vote to leave European Union, he said, was reflective of institutional turmoil while rapidly changing politico-economic statements of US Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump illustrated mental turmoil among the world’s politicians.
“It (Trump) is not just a personal issue but suggestive of a phenomenon,” viewed Dr Muhammad, a former ambassador to Geneva. The Iranian official said while the world was passing through an ambiguous transition on conceptual nature the term power itself had changed.
With the center of power shifting from the west (Europe and America) to Asia (China), the US, despite being the world’s biggest military power was not able to achieve it policy goals through exerting the same in many cases.
“Even we see some non-state actors like the ISIS (Daesh) wielding more power (than the states of Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan),” said the president of Iran Political Science Association.
Conflicting trends, he said, were at work globally with the champions of globalization being challenged by the proponents of narrow-minded theories of localization.
In this state of turmoil and transformation, Dr Muhammad said Pakistan and Iran should “nurture” their friendship to thwart the ulterior designs of “third party” elements.
“We should watch our interests carefully to minimize the global impact of some harmful trends,” said the Iranian diplomat who said back in his country there was a complete consensus on cooperating with Pakistan.
“I have not seen one dissenting voice (back in home) on (Iran’s) cooperation with Pakistan,” he said and rejected “all the notions” that Tehran was sectarian in its policy approach. “Iran is always for the unity of Muslims,” he declared.
“We have to take this friendship more seriously,” said Dr Muhammad who sees the two countries enjoying strong religious, civilizational, linguistic, political, strategic and economic bonds that need to be nurtured.
To a question, the soft-speaking diplomat said while Iran had done its job on Iran-Pakistan gas pipeline project Pakistan was arranging Chinese financing to undertake the mega venture on its side of the border. “This project, I must say, should materialize,” he said.
