Iranian President is going to visit the prime minister of Pakistan, Shahbaz Sharif, in Islamabad in a private meeting followed by meeting between high-ranking officials of the two countries.

Visiting his Pakistani counterpart, Asef Ali Zardari and travelling to other cities of Pakistan to visit Pakistani elites, traders and religious figures are among the other programs of the Iranian president’s visit.

Since taking office in August 2021, the 13th administration has focused on boosting economic relations with the neighboring countries. Iran and Pakistan share a long border extending more than 900 kilometers. Tehran and Islamabad have many common cultural and civilizational backgrounds as well and their annual trade hits 2 billion dollars.

In addition to expanding bilateral energy cooperation and exporting technical and engineering services, resuming talks about Iran’s natural gas exports to Pakistan through pipeline is high on the agenda.

in 2009, then Iran and Pakistan presidents signed a gas contract under its terms Iran would deliver gas to its neighboring country. In March 2013, construction operations of the pipeline started in a common border point in Chabahar but it never completed by Islamabad mainly due to the United States pressures. This came after two decades of the beginning of Iran and India negotiations for gas export to the country through a pipeline crossing Pakistan, known as IPI gas pipeline.

Under the provisions of the contract, Tehran has already completed the 1100 kilometers of the pipeline in its soil from Assaluyeh to Iranshahr, near the border with Pakistan, but Islamabad never completed the extension of the pipeline in its territory unless this year that it has announced its willingness to resume construction.

Iranian Minister of Petroleum also plans to visit Sri lanka to hold bilateral talks on energy cooperation.