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ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s Commerce Minister Jam Kamal Khan on Tuesday highlighted several initiatives to enhance bilateral trade with Iran such as removing impediments in customs, tariffs and removing banking hurdles, the commerce ministry said in a statement. 

Khan arrived in Tehran on a three-day visit to the country on Sunday. The Pakistani minister is attending the 22nd meeting of the Pakistan-Iran Joint Economic Commission (JEC), amid efforts by both countries to forge closer economic, trade and investment relations through border markets and trade links.

Pakistan and Iran, which have remained at odds over instability along their shared border, plan to increase their bilateral trade to $10 billion from the existing figure of around $3 billion. Speaking at the Pak-Iran Business Forum 2025 to business leaders, officials and diplomats from both countries, Khan said the two countries’ bilateral economic partnership should be as deep as their religious, cultural and historical bonds. 

“The minister outlined a series of ongoing and planned initiatives to transform bilateral trade, including: seventeen new protocols under negotiation covering banking facilitation, logistics, shipping, aviation, free zones, high-end manufacturing, agriculture, and investment promotion,” the ministry said. 

The minister also spoke of the need to operationalize border markets and special economic zones to boost livelihoods in border areas. He called for enhanced foreign direct investment in Pakistan’s energy, minerals, agriculture and manufacturing sectors. 

Khan highlighted the need for close technical coordination between the teams of both countries to resolve “long-standing impediments in customs, tariffs, and regulatory processes.”

“Our industrial sector is improving, services and IT are rising, and foreign investment is looking to Pakistan,” Khan noted. 

The minister invited Iranian companies to participate in Pakistan’s upcoming Agriculture Expo in November 2025, calling it “a gateway to explore manufacturing hubs, meet counterparts and discover new markets.”

Farzaneh Sadegh, Iran’s minister for road and urban development, said she was confident that under the vision of both leaderships, Pakistan and Iran are moving steadily toward the $10 billion trade target. She highlighted Iran’s keen interest in joint investment projects in pharmaceuticals, engineered goods, ceramics and other high-value sectors.

“Ms. Sadegh underscored that Iran views the Pakistan–Iran Business Forum as a practical platform for accelerating cooperation and generating concrete outcomes for both nations,” the commerce ministry said. 

Pakistan and Iran have renewed their push to enhance bilateral trade in recent months. The two countries exchanged 12 agreements, memoranda of understanding for bilateral cooperation in diverse fields during Iranian President Dr. Masoud Pezeshkian’s visit to Pakistan last month. 

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif this week met Qatar’s emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani, condemning Israel’s airstrikes in Doha and calling for unity among Muslim nations in the face of increasing tensions in the Middle East. 

Sharif arrived in Doha on Monday to attend the emergency Arab-Islamic summit organized after Israel targeted Hamas leaders in the Qatari capital on Sept. 9. The strike, which Hamas says killed five of its members but not its leadership, prompted Arab Gulf states to forge a united front against the Israeli attack at the summit. 

The Pakistani prime minister met Al-Thani on the sidelines of the summit on Monday, the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) said in a statement. He was accompanied by Deputy PM Ishaq Dar and Army Chief Field Marshal Syed Asim Munir.

“The Prime Minister stressed that Israel’s aggression in the Middle East must be stopped immediately, and unity within the Ummah was vitally important, in the face of repeated Israeli provocations,” the PMO said.

Sharif expressed solidarity with Qatar, describing Israel’s attack as a “flagrant violation” of the Gulf nation’s territorial integrity and sovereignty. 

“His Highness the Emir expressed appreciation for the Prime Minister’s participation in the Emergency Arab-Islamic Summit as well as for his visit to Doha on September 12 to express solidarity with Qatar at this difficult time,” Sharif’s office said. 

It added that both leaders agreed to remain in close contact in view of the unfolding situation in the region.

ARAB-ISLAMIC TASK FORCE

At the summit, Sharif called for the creation of an Arab-Islamic task force to keep Israel’s “expansionist designs” in the Middle East in check, demanding the United Nations suspend the Jewish state’s membership of the global body.

“Pakistan reiterates following essential and urgent steps that Israel must be held accountable for its war crimes against humanity, creation of an Arab Islamic task force to adopt effective measures toward Israeli expansionist designs,” Sharif said.

“We reiterate the OIC’s call to suspend Israel’s membership of the United Nations,” he said, adding that member states should actively consider implementing other appropriate measures against Israel.

Sharif also criticized Israel for its military offensives in Gaza. Since the start of the war in October 2023, Pakistan has repeatedly condemned the offensive that has killed nearly 65,000 people, mostly women and children, and called for accountability of Israel’s “war crimes.”