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Khatami, Musharraf discuss Afghanistan, ME, regional security |
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Istanbul, Oct 14, IRNA -- Iran and Pakistan on Monday called for restoration of full Palestinians' rights as a driving force to establish sustainable peace in the Middle East. In a meeting between President Mohammad Khatami and his Pakistani counterpart General Pervez Musharraf here, the two sides stressed trilateral Iran-Pakistan-Afghanistan talks on reconstruction of the war-shattered country, support of the Palestinian people, and introducing the real image of Islam. Both reiterated, "We should not allow some unthoughtful acts to tarnish the real image of Islam -- a religion that is the harbinger of peace, security, esteem, and independence." President Khatami, currently here to attend the 7th Summit of the Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO), stressed the need to reinvigorate cooperation among ECO member states to promote economic structure of Afghanistan. He termed establishment of peace and security in Afghanistan as "important" for Tehran and Islamabad. The Iranian president congratulated Musharraf for holding the recent elections in the country and expressed hope that the two sides would boost bilateral relations in all domains due to great potentials of the two countries. He referred to a project to transfer Iranian gas to India via Pakistan as a founding stone to restore security and stability in the region. Khatami, meanwhile, expressed satisfaction over lowering of tension between India and Pakistan and hoped the conflict would be removed in the interest of the two nations. Musharraf, for his part, highlighted the importance of peace and security in the region. He expressed his country's readiness to expand bilateral ties as well as implement an economic project to lay the pipelines transferring the Iranian gas to India through Pakistan. |
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