Karachi: Pakistan and Iran on Thursday pledged to make their border a "no-go area" for militants and terrorists even as Islamabad promised to make all possible efforts to trace five kidnapped Iranian border guards.
Senior officials from both countries met for a third day in the southwestern city of Quetta to remove misunderstandings created by the abduction of the border guards.
"Pakistan will strictly act if we get any information regarding the presence of the kidnapped Iranian soldiers on our soil," Balochistan Chief Secretary Babar Yaqoob Fateh Muhammad told a joint press conference with Iranian officials.
In Islamabad, Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan told the Iranian envoy that the two countries should make the Pakistan-Iran border a "no-go area" for militants and terrorists.
The border guards were seized on February 6 in Iran`s Sistan-Balochistan province by militants who allegedly took them across the border to Pakistan. Jaish ul Adl, a Sunni militant group, claimed responsibility for the kidnappings.
Following the incident, Iranian Interior Minister Abdolreza Rahmani-Fazli threatened to send troops into Pakistan if the abducted soldiers were not recovered.
Ali Asghar Shikari, Deputy Governor of Sistan-Balochistan, expressed serious concern over the abductions and told the news conference in Quetta that the incident had "harmed the feelings" of the Iranian people.
Meanwhile, Iranian Ambassador Alireza Haghighian called on Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan in Islamabad to discuss the kidnappings.
Khan said he was committed to strengthening bilateral ties. Both sides must rise above current irritants and protect the fundamentals of their relations, he was quoted as saying in a statement issued by the Interior Ministry.
The two countries and their security agencies should work together to make the Pakistan-Iran border safe for common citizens and a no-go area for militants and terrorists, he said.
Militant or terrorists should not be allowed to negatively influence close relations between the two countries, Khan said.
Haghighian said the Iranian government wants to work closely with Pakistan to strengthen relations in all fields, including "closer economic, cultural and security relations".
