Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi commenced his significant three-day visit to Islamabad on Monday, where he tactfully sidestepped Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif's endeavor to broach the Kashmir issue.
During the joint press conference, Sharif expressed gratitude towards Iran for its support regarding the Kashmir dispute between Pakistan and India.
"We appreciate Iran's backing on the Kashmir matter," remarked Sharif, highlighting the mutual identification and agreement for cooperation on various regional concerns.
However, Raisi chose not to engage with the Kashmir issue, instead focusing on the Israel-Palestine conflict during his opening statement at the presser held at the Prime Minister's residence.
"The failure of the United Nations to intervene and halt the ongoing genocide of innocent Palestinians in Gaza by Israel is now glaring," asserted Raisi, shifting the discourse away from Kashmir.
Raisi's deliberate silence on Kashmir is construed as a pointed rebuff to Islamabad's persistent endeavors to rally support on the Kashmir dispute from both regional and global actors.
"Pakistan should be cognizant of Iran's relationship with India. The Prime Minister should have exercised caution in bringing up Kashmir, given Iran's preoccupation with the Israel conflict," remarked Abdullah Momand, a political analyst.
"The Kashmir issue and Pakistan's diplomatic overtures have not yielded the desired support from a significant figure like Raisi. It was somewhat embarrassing to witness our Prime Minister expressing gratitude for a supportive stance on Kashmir, which was neither articulated nor reciprocated by Raisi," he added.
Nevertheless, notwithstanding Pakistan's unsuccessful bid to elicit a statement on Kashmir from the Iranian President, both nations concurred on augmenting their trade and business ties to a minimum of $10 billion.
"We are dedicated to elevating our relations to unprecedented levels. The current economic and trade volume between Iran and Pakistan is inadequate. As an initial step, we have resolved to boost trade volume between our nations to $10 billion," affirmed Raisi during the press conference.
The visit witnessed the signing of at least 10 Memoranda of Understanding (MoUs) aimed at fortifying mutual cooperation in trade and development endeavors.
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