• All 3 sides decide to institutionalise trilateral consultations on counter-terrorism and security.
• Pakistan says seen statement from Iran’s Admiral Shahram about forming naval alliance.
• “We will examine any proposal when it comes to Pakistan,” Foreign Office says.

ISLAMABAD: For the first time, China, together with Pakistan and Iran, has decided to find ways and means to counter the threat of terrorism facing the region, The News reported.

In this regard, the Foreign Office on Thursday announced that the first Pakistan-China-Iran Trilateral Consultation Meeting on Counter-Terrorism and Security was held at the director general level on Wednesday in Beijing.

Ministry of Foreign Affairs Director General (Counter Terrorism) Abdul Hameed led the Pakistan delegation.

“The delegations held detailed discussions on the regional security situation, particularly the threat of terrorism faced by the region. Based on the outcome of these consultations, the three sides have decided to institutionalise the trilateral consultations on counter-terrorism and security,” the Foreign Office said during her weekly media briefing.

“Further details will be worked out in due course,” Foreign Office spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch said.

For China, which is behind the CPEC projects in the region, this trilateral cooperation would go a long way to ensure that security threats are addressed for these projects to be completed.

China has also sensed that the continuing border incidents on the Pak-Iran border, where non-state actors carry out terrorist attacks inside both countries, should be contained.

Meanwhile, as Petroleum Minister Musadik Malik visited the United States to discuss the future of the Iran-Pakistan gas pipeline, the FO spokesperson struck a cautious tone.

“As we have said in the past, for Pakistan the IP project is an important project and we remain committed to it. There are certain complications with regard to its implementation.”

“In that context, we remain engaged with both Iran and the United States. Exact details of the meetings that the Minister of State for Petroleum held in the United States may be ascertained from the concerned ministry,” she said.

Meanwhile, Pakistan said that it has seen the statement from Iranian Naval Chief Rear Admiral Shahram Irani, who had proposed an Ocean Naval Alliance including Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, India and Pakistan.

“We will examine any proposal when it comes to Pakistan. At this stage, we are not in a position to comment on a statement which has been made,” said the spokesperson.