Pakistan, Iran agree to improve coordination on intelligence sharing

QUETTA: Security officials of Pakistan and Iran met in Tehran on Wednesday to discuss the recent cross border violations.

Inspector General Frontier Corps (FC) Major General Ejaz Shahid met Iranian Border Police Chief General Qasim Razai in Tehran and decided to improve coordination on intelligence sharing in order to secure the border. Senior security officials of both countries attended the meeting.

“The security heads of the borders deliberated the recent incidents inside the bordering areas. They decided to improve coordination on intelligence sharing,” the FC spokesperson said in a statement issued to the media in Quetta.

The spokesperson added that FC IG and the Iranian border chief agreed to improve surveillance and security of the border.

Major General Shahid said good cooperation between Pakistan and Iran was necessary for durable peace in the region.

Incidents of border violations have increased recently.

Sources said Iran had lodged complaints that terrorists involved in attacking Iranian border guards often flee towards Balochistan.

On October 17, Iranian border guards reportedly killed a Pakistani border soldier and wounded three others. The following day, 30 Iranian border troops trespassed two kilometres into Pakistan and raided a house.

On the same day, Iran said two Iranian borders guards were killed by militants near the Pakistani border and claimed that their border guards killed several ‘rebels’ in turn.

Second-in-command of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) Brigadier General Hossein Salami said on several occasions that Iran will step in to contain militants if Islamabad refuses to take measures in order to secure its borders to keep militants from slipping into Iran. He warned Iran may chase militants wherever they find it, even on Pakistan’s territory.