IRNA - A senior Pakistani defense analyst strongly believes that there should be greater security cooperation and understanding between Iran and Pakistan to stop abduction of security personnel on border region.


In an interview with the Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA), lieutenant General (Retd) Amjad Shoaib said governments of the two countries must continue their cooperation to undermine enemies� conspiracies.

In a statement issued on October 16, Iran�s Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) said terrorists had kidnapped the Iranian forces, including local Basij volunteer forces and border guards, near the town of Mirjaveh on the Pakistani border.

Jaish al-Adl terrorist group has claimed responsibility for the act. In this regard, there has been contact between the Directors General (Military Operations) of Iran and Pakistan.
Meanwhile Chief of Staff of the Iranian Armed Forces Major General Mohammad Baqeri had also spoken to Pakistan Army Chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa asking Pakistan for taking prompt action to arrest kidnappers of Iranian border guards.

�In Pakistan we all condemn this incident and all Pakistanis feel sorry over the terrorist attack,� lieutenant General (Retd) Amjad Shoaib said.

He added that Balochistan is a destabilized area adding that foreign sponsored instability in Balochistan is not only creating problems for Pakistan but Iran also.

�We have earlier seen abduction of Chinese workers in Balochistan also and some Pakistani workers,� he noted.

The analyst said that incidents of abductions are not unique; they have been regularly taking place in Balochistan. Security expert Amjad Shoaib went on to say that it is not so easy to locate the abducted persons in the area as it takes time.

He said that the intelligence agencies of Pakistan are working very actively and �whenever we find a clue then naturally the recovery of abductees would become responsibility of Pakistan�s law enforcement agencies.�

�They have been undertaking operations regularly and many times the abductors are apprehended,� the former three-star general noted.

He said that whenever Iran and Pakistan come closer these kinds of incidents happen. �The terrorists behind such attacks follow a proper design and now when they saw Iran and Pakistan�s relations are improving they try to stall the process,� he pointed out.

The security expert was of the view that hostile agencies in the region try to create misunderstanding between Iran and Pakistan.

Lieutenant General (Retd) Amjad Shoaib noted that governments of the two countries must continue their cooperation to undermine enemies� conspiracies. �They must use their whole wisdom to understand the situation in the region,� he said.

The expert said that Iran must rest assure that Pakistan government is taking all the measures to stop occurrence of such cowardly attacks. He said that there should be greater security cooperation and understanding between Iran and Pakistan to resolve such things.

�Ever since Pakistan Army Chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa visited Iran, we have seen improvement in bilateral ties particularly in border management,� he said.

He went on to say Pakistan would definitely help Iran in improving border security and border management to any extent. �We are not interested to create any problem for Iran, we definitely want a peaceful Iran and have very good brotherly relations with the very important neighbor,� said the former general.