Leaders of Iran and Pakistan Inaugurate Border Market

Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi and Pakistani Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif have inaugurated a border market in Pakistan's southwestern province of Balochistan.

In a statement, Pakistan's Foreign Office called the May 18 inauguration "a manifestation of the strong commitment of Pakistan and Iran to uplift the welfare of residents" of the neighboring provinces of Balochistan and Iran's Sistan and Baluchistan.

Located in the village of Pashin, the marketplace is the first of six to be constructed along the Pakistan-Iran border under a 2012 bilateral agreement.

Sharif and Raisi also inaugurated an electricity transmission line, which will provide Pakistani remote areas with Iranian electricity.

In a televised meeting, Sharif assured Raisi that his country will do its best to improve security along the Iranian border. 

The Pakistani prime minister added that both sides agreed to enhance trade and economic relations, and extended an invitation to the Iranian president to visit Islamabad.

Relations between Iran and Pakistan have been contentious because of cross-border attacks by Pakistani militants along their shared border.

Resource-rich Balochistan, which borders both Iran and Afghanistan, has been plagued by sectarian violence, attacks by Islamist militants and a separatist insurgency that has led to thousands of casualties since 2004.

Pakistan has close ties with Saudi Arabia, but has tried to maintain a relationship with predominantly Shia Iran. Saudi Arabia and its regional rival Iran recently re-established diplomatic ties after a seven-year hiatus.