Moscow, Sep 2 (FN Agency) Senior Iranian and Pakistan officials have agreed to strengthen bilateral trade and cultural relations in the southeastern Iranian province of Sistan and Baluchestan and neighboring Balochistan province of Pakistan, IRNA news reported on Thursday. The consul general of Iran in Pakistan’s city of Quetta in Balochistan, Hassan Darvishvand, held discussions with Shahzain Bugti, special assistant to the prime minister of Pakistan on reconciliation on issues of mutual interest in Sistan and Baluchestan and Balochistan, the news outlet reported.
Bugti said his country will strive to ensure improved bilateral socio-economic relations, specifically in the two neighboring provinces in Iran and Pakistan. Both provinces are part of the mountainous region of Balochistan, populated predominately by ethnic Baloch, who are mostly Sunni Muslims. The region boasts of a flourishing agriculture, fisheries and valuable untapped mineral deposits. However, due to inadequate local investment and skilled manpower, it has relatively lagged behind the rest of the country in development. Baloch separatists often times complain that they are economically marginalized.