Prime Minister Imran Khan will pay an official visit to Iran on April 21-22, 2019 to hold discussions with Iranian leadership on issues of mutual interest, Foreign Office said.
According to Spokesperson Foreign Office Dr Mohammad Faisal, the Prime Minister in his visit, being undertaken on the invitation of Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, will call on Iranian Supreme Leader Seyed Ali Khamenei, besides holding detailed consultations with President Rouhani.
He said that the Prime Minister will be accompanied by a high-level delegation including Ministers for Finance Asad Umar, Human Rights Dr Shireen Mazari, Maritime Affairs Ali Zaidi, Inter-Provincial Coordination Dr Fehmida Mirza, Adviser on Commerce Abdul Razzaq Dawood, Special Assistant for Power Sector and Task Force on Energy Shahzad Qasim and Special Assistant on Overseas Pakistanis and Human Resources Zulfiqar Bokhari, besides several senior officials. The Prime Minister will also meet members of the Iranian and Pakistani business community in Iran.
Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi is not part of the Prime Minister's delegation, as he is scheduled to undertake a two-day official visit to Japan from April 22-23. "Pakistan's relations with Iran are marked by close historic and cultural linkages and strong people to people exchanges," Dr Faisal said, adding that Pakistan and Iran are also members of the Economic Cooperation Organisation (ECO) and Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC).
"The Prime Minister's visit to Iran will further the close bilateral relationship between the two countries," he added.
This will be the first visit of the Prime Minister to Iran. The visit will include a brief stop-over in Mashhad before arriving in Tehran for bilateral talks with the Iranian leadership, he added.