KARACHI: Mehdi Sobhani, the new consul general for Iran in Karachi, is keen to tap into the unexplored

potential for trade between akistan and Iran!

The current level of trade with Pakistan is less than $1 billion whereas our trade with Afghanistan, India and Turkey is worth $3 billion, $15 billion and $ ! billion res"ectively,# he said$

According to I%& statistics, with the volu'e of bilateral trade at (ust 1$)) billion euro, Isla'abad ranks 11th on the list of Tehran*s trading "artners, "roviding a 'eager one "ercent of Iran*s total trade$ +ut given the e,"ort co'"le'entarities between the two countries, -obhani would like this figure to increase 'anifold$

Al'ost 5! "ercent of Pakistan*s $ 5 billion e,"orts are te,tiles while Iran i'"orts te,tiles worth $1$5 billion a year$ The advantage for Pakistan in trading with Iran is that we*re willing to barter goods and energy for wheat and rice as well as other goods,# he told a .ang /rou" delegation headed by -hahrukh 0asan and co'"rising 1a2ir 3eghari, A'ir 4ia, -ana Ah'ad and -yed %inha(ur 5ab$

0owever, in order to realise this drea', -obhani believes there needs to be greater "eo"le6to6"eo"le contact so that both nations can identify the o""ortunities and "ossibilities of dealing with each other$ 7nly "eo"le6to6"eo"le contact will hel" dis"el the i'"ression in Iran, for e,a'"le, that Pakistan is a "lace where only terroris' incidents take "lace,# he said$

+ut -obhani also highlights the need for Isla'abad to crackdown on its terroris' "roble'#$ 8ou 'ust understand there*s no good war or bad "eace,# he 9uoted, alluding to the govern'ent*s decision to negotiate with the :good* Taliban$ 7nly by 'eeting this issue head6on, he said, will Isla'abad be able to leverage its geo6strategic "osition to draw in trade and invest'ent$

5eviled for 'ore than a decade as an international "ariah for its obdurate refusal to give u" civil nuclear technology, Tehran is now looking to reclai' its "lace a'ong the co'ity of nations and rebuild trade and foreign "olicy bridges long abandoned$ And the key

lessons for Pakistan see' to be that isolation is to be avoided and that the foreign "olicy le,icon has evolved since the ;old <ar$

<e don*t understand Pakistan*s lack of interest in the Pak6Iran gas "i"eline,# confessed -obhani$ -ince the ti'e the agree'ent was signed, we*ve been asking the Pakistani side to co'e over but have yet to hear fro' the'$ <e only found out through the 'edia that your "etroleu' 'inister wanted us to 'ake "i"eline on your side as well$#

=a""er in a khaki suit and black, low6collared shirt, the consul general is an affable, soft s"oken 'an$ 0owever, he doesn*t 'ince his words even when co''enting on "olitically sensitive issues$ <hat we*ve understood fro' the Pakistani side is that they*re worried about -audi Arabia and its reaction$ +ut you should 'ake decisions based on what*s good for your country and your "eo"le, not in line with those of another country and another "eo"le,# he argued$ And the constant "rocrastination on the Pakistani end > they (ust won*t take decisions# > is another sore "oint with the Iranians$

According to -obhani, the alternative to the "i"eline being touted in Isla'abad and elsewhere > the Turk'enistan6Afghanistan6Pakistan6India "i"eline > is not only vulnerable to security concerns but is also li'ited in sco"e, given that Turk'enistan already has binding co''it'ents to e,"ort gas to both ;hina and Turkey$ They si'"ly won*t have enough$ 8our e,"orts are currently worth $ 5 billion but industries run on energy and you can*t grow trade without energy,# said -obhani$

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