Iran-Pakistan relations
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Iran and Pakistan have had relations ever since the birth of Pakistan in 1947 and was the first country to do so in terms of recognition of the newly created nation-state which included what is now known as Bangladesh until 1971.
Even before the creation of Pakistan, the area of northwestern India now known as Pakistan was in close proximity to Persia. As a result, it had close geographical, ethnic, linguistic and cultural ties to Persia for centuries. The Achaemenid annexation of the Punjab and Sindh during the 5th century BCE solidified this connection in the Indus valley. Both of Pakistan's western provinces, the North West Frontier Province and Balochistan, lie on the eastern edge of the Iranian plateau, tying them directly to the Greater Iranian civilization found in this area. Balochistan is part of the greater Baluchistan region that is split between Pakistan and Iran, as well as southern Afghanistan, forming an even stronger common ethno-linguistic and cultural bond between Iranians and Pakistanis. Also, small but significant numbers of Persian speakers can still be found in the country, particularly in its western provinces. Apart from these areas, the mainstream South Asian Islamic civilization of Pakistan derives much from the Muslim culture of Iran. Urdu, the dialect of Hindi commonly spoken in Pakistan derives much from Persian and the Urdu national anthem of Pakistan uses so much Persian vocabulary, it can almost be understood by a Persian speaker.
During the Shah's era, Iran moved closer to Pakistan to offset a communist flavored India. After the Iranian Revolution, Pakistan was the among the first countries to recognize the new Iranian government.
Among the problems that drive Iran and Pakistan to a common ground is the Baluchistan issue.
During the 1990s, Abdul Qadeer Khan was allegedly involved in selling sensitive technology to Iran, particularly P-1 centrifuge systems.
Despite relations with Pakistan, Iran also maintains a balancing act via holding relations with Pakistan's rival India. Despite of difference of policies between Pakistan and Iran on the Taliban issue, both the countries were able to maintain a fairly good relations. The Indian factor has nothing to do with the relations between the two countries[citation needed]. Both Pakistan and Iran opposed the Soviet occupation in Afghanistan and coordinated their policies on that matter. Both the countries are partners in the Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO), a forerunner of Regional Co-operation for Development (RCD), which was established in 1964 along with Turkey. Within the regional organizational framework both countries continue to cooperate with each other on various matters of mutual interest.
Furthermore, Pakistan and Iran have been partners in CENTO (Central Treaty Organization), a defence treaty along with Turkey and the United States.
Relations between Iran and Pakistan have improved since after the removal of Taliban in 2002. It is expected that Pakistan will enter into a gigantic gas project with Iran in the near future. In 2005, Iran and Pakistan had US$500 million of trade. The Iran-India pipeline is currently a major development between all three nations that could have large outcomes.
