Ambassador Mehdi Honardoost highlights friendly relations between Pakistan, Iran
Iran celebrates Victory of Revolution, National Day
Ashraf Ansari
Ambassador Mehdi Honardoost of Iran hosted a glittering reception in the federal capital to mark the 39th anniversary of the Glorious Victory of the Islamic Revolution of Iran and the National Day.
A large number of guests graced the reception. They included ambassadors and other diplomats stationed in Islamabad, political leaders and prominent people from various segments of Pakistani society. The federal housing minister, Akram Durrani and National Security advisor, Lt. Gen. (Retd) Nassir Janjua were the guests of honour on the occasion and they joined the Iranian ambassador in cutting the ceremonial cake decorated with the national flags of Pakistan and Iran. A brilliant feature of the reception was singing of national anthems of the two countries by young boys and girls of Iran in very enchanting voice. The performance of the singers, school students, was highly appreciated by the audience.
Addressing the reception the Iranian ambassador highlighted various aspects of current Pakistan-Iran relations saying that the friendly and cordial relations between the two brotherly countries have the potential of growing to new heights which would be in the national interests of both the countries. The ambassador first spoke in English followed by Urdu. His speech in Urdu received loud applauds by the guests.
Though Pakistan-Iran relations began with the emergence of Pakistan in 1947, the people of the two countries can trace their close cultural relations to the medieval times when the Persian language was the court language under the Mogul rule of South Asia. Persian language in those days was the language of knowledge and culture in this part of the world. Classical poets of Persian language such as Firdousi, Hafiz Sherazi, Sheikh Saadi, Roomi and Attar were fondly studied and cherished by the Muslims of South Asia. These great poets were part of educational programmes.
After Pakistan gained its independence in August 1947, Iran was the first country to recognize its sovereign status. Iran supported Pakistan in its conflicts with India and has always supported it over its stand on Kashmir. Iran’s support to Pakistan during the war against India in 1965 was highly valuable. Recently the Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei appealed to Muslims worldwide to back the freedom struggle in Jammu and Kashmir. Iran has vast natural gas resources and is ready to supply this energy resource to Pakistan through a pipeline. It is already supplying electricity to the Balochistan province of Pakistan. Trade between the two countries has been growing over the years.
Iran’s national language, Persian has been and still remains one of the most prominent languages of the Middle East and regions beyond. Persian language is still quite relevant for Pakistan as the literature of this language enriches Pakistan’s culture. Persian language becomes all the more important for Pakistan as its national poet Allama Mohammad Iqbal wrote much of his great poetry in this language and there is need to study Iqbal to understand the real message of Islam and the philosophy underlying the concept of a Muslim homeland in South Asia.
https://pakobserver.net/ambassador-mehdi-honardoost-highlights-friendly-relations-pakistan-iran/