ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan will pay a two-day official visit to Iran from April 21.

“Prime Minister Imran Khan will pay an official visit to Iran on 21-22 April 2019 on the invitation of President of the Islamic Republic of Iran, His Exce­llency Hassan Rouhani. This will be the first visit of the Prime Minister to Iran,” the Foreign Office announced on Monday.

Mr Khan was initially scheduled to visit Iran in January, but it was postponed at the eleventh hour because of unexplained reasons. The dates of the upcoming visit had been doing the rounds in the media for several days, but uncertainty continued till the official announcement by the FO.

Border security issues to be on top of Imran’s agenda in Tehran

The FO statement said Pak-Iran relations were “marked by close historic and cultural linkages and strong people-to-people exchanges”.

The relations have, however, had a bad patch as well, due to security issues along the border. There was a brief bonhomie in ties after Army Chief Gen Qamar Bajwa’s unprecedented visit to Iran in November 2017. That could, however, not be sustained for long.

According to diplomatic sources, border security issues will be on top of PM Khan’s agenda in Tehran.

Published in Dawn, April 16th, 2019