The Iran–Pakistan relations (or sometimes as "Iranic-Pakistan relations) refers to historical, bilateral, cultural and international relations which dates back to the common prehistoric Indo-Iranian heritage (which connects all of Greater Persia with the Indo-Aryan civilization of the Indus Valley) from 3000-2000 BC and the Indo-Parthian and Indo-Scythian kingdoms of antiquity to the strongly Persianized Islamic empires in South-central Asia and the Greater Middle East in the 13th to 19th centuries.
The region of Pakistan also represented the easternmost Satraps (provinces) of Persia and these Pakistani Satraps (Provinces) were amongst the richest and fertile in Persia. Many old and historic buildings in Pakistan have Persian writing on them. There are also many Persian ruins spread across the country and there is a significant number of buildings still standing from the Persian era. There is a long history of contact and mutual influence between the two nations, with significant aspects of Pakistani culture and traditions are influenced from Iranian cultures.
Politically, Iran was the first country to officially acknowledge the newly formed state of Pakistan in 1947 as well. Today relations between Islamabad and Tehran are based on bilateral relations between the Islamic Republic of Pakistan and the Islamic Republic of Iran. Pakistan and Iran are neighbors, connected by the Balochistan region split between them.
Pakistan was partially a colony of the Persian Empire and both Pakistan and Iran are part of the Iranian Cultural Continent.[1] During the rule of 1970s, Iran's relations with Pakistan were at their peak. However, During the 1980s foreign policy of both countries experiences major shifts and, the relations between both states at times have become strained for short periods due to Pakistan's close ties with Saudi Arabia and Pakistan's historic close alliance with the USA which Iran views with suspicion and recently tends to warn Pakistan against. Pakistan and Iran also supported different sides during the Afghan Civil War. However, relations have never been hostile and have again improved significantly since 1999. Pakistan and Iran have a number of areas of mutual interest on fighting drug trade along their common border as well as defeating Afghan supported tribal insurgency along their border. They are both members of the Developing 8 Countries group of countries as well as the Economic Cooperation Organization. Iran and Pakistan are also both observers of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation
Contents |
Country comparison
 Iran |
 Pakistan |
|
|---|---|---|
| Population | 75,000,000 | 176,516,000 |
| Area | 1,648,195 km² (636,372 sq mi) | 796,095 km² (307,374 sq mi) |
| Population Density | 45.3/km² (117.4/sq mi) | 214.3/km² (555/sq mi) |
| Capital | Tehran | Islamabad |
| Largest City | Tehran | Karachi |
| Government | Islamic republic, Theocratic Unitary state | Islamic Republic, Federal Parliamentary democratic republic |
| National language | Persian | Urdu, English (Pakistani dialect) |
| Main Religions | 98% Islam (90% Shi'a 10% Sunni), 2% religious minorities, including Bahá'ís, Mandeans, Yarsanis, Zoroastrians, Jews, and Christians |
95-98% Islam (85% Sunni, 10% Shi'a), 1.6% Christianity, 1.6% Hinduism, others |
| GDP (nominal) | $357.221 billion ($4,740 per capita) | $210.8 billion ($1,049 per capita) |
| GDP (PPP) | $818.7 billion | $464 billion |
| Military expenditures | $9.3 billion | $5.0 billion |
Persian language and culture in Pakistan
See also: Persian and Urdu
An Iranian stamp commemorating the centenary of Mohammad Ali Jinnah, printed in 1976.
Many Persian speaking refugees, Dari and Tajiks, from Afghanistan have also settled in Pakistan permanently. There are also Tajiks refugees from Tajikistan that have settled in Pakistan.
Urdu language
Amongst most Iranian expatriates in Pakistan and the Persian Gulf Arab states, Arabic and Urdu is widely used as a second language for business and trade.Background
Both Iran and Pakistan were also part of the Ghaznavid Empirewhich was founded by Sabuktigin upon his succession to rule of territories centered around the city of Ghazni from his father-in-law, Alp Tigin, a break-away ex-general of the Samanid sultans. Sabuktigin's son, Shah Mahmoud, expanded the empire in the region that stretched from the Oxus river to the Indus Valley and beyond covering Western Panjab and Kashmir and in the west it reached Rey[disambiguation needed] and Hamadan.
Under the reign of Mas'ud I of Ghazni, the dynasty experienced major territorial losses, losing the western territories to the Seljuqs at the Battle of Dandanaqan resulting in a restriction of its holdings to Balochistan, Western Panjab and modern-day Afghanistan.[4][5] In 1151, Sultan Bahram Shah lost Ghazni to Ala'uddin Hussain of Ghor and the capital was moved to Lahore until its subsequent capture by the Ghurids in 1186.
In later centuries, conquests by Alexander, Timur and Nadir Shah resulted in both countries being under a single ruler. Persian nobles, most famously Nur Jahan, formed an important part of the nobility during the Mughal era.
Pakistan's western province, Balochistan, lies on the eastern edge of the Iranian plateau, tying it directly to the Greater Iranian civilization found in this area. Balochistan is part of the greater Baluchistan region that is split between Pakistan and Iran, as well as southern Afghanistan. A significant numbers of Persian speakers can still be found in Pakistan's western provinces.
As a result of these close geographical, ethnic, linguistic and cultural ties, there are strong common ethno-linguistic and cultural bonds between Iranians and Pakistanis.
1947 to 1979
During the Shah's era, Iran moved closer to Pakistan in many fields and the two nations worked closely with each other. Pakistan, Iran and Turkey joined the United States-sponsored CENTO (Central Treaty Organization) defence treaty which extended along the Soviet Union's southern perimeter.
Their relationship further strengthened in the 1970s to suppress a rebel movement in Balochistan, across provinces of Iranian Baluchestan, Pakistani Baluchistan and Afghan Balochistan. In addition the Shah offered considerable development aid to Pakistan including oil and gas on preferential terms. Iran is also believed to have assisted Pakistan financially in its development of an atomic bomb program after India's surprise test detonation Smiling Buddha in 1974.
Pakistanis and Iranians frequently visited each other's countries. Considerable business, educational and infrastructure development took place in this period.
Military relations
Both nations were part of a Cold War alliance called the Central Treaty Organization. Iran has always supported Pakistan when it went to war with India, sending over squadrons of airplanes and extra tanks as well as other arms to support it. Dr. Abdul Qadeer Khan, the prominent Pakistani nuclear scientist, is popular in Iran.[citation needed]In 1965 war Pakistani fighter jets were often sent to Iran for fueling and other tactical purposes. Iran also supplied Pakistan with American military weaponry and spare parts after America cut off their military aid to Pakistan.[6] In the 1971 war[which?] Pakistani planes were sent to Iranian bases in Zahedan and Mehrabad for protection since Russian radar jamming and early Airborne warning An-12[clarification needed] blinded Pakistani fighters. Similarly Iran sheltered its jets at Pakistan Air Force Bases during the Iran-Iraq War[citation needed]. Pakistan became intermediary in several of defense deals of Iran with China and North Korea.[citation needed]
Migration
Main article: Iranians in Pakistan
Today, many ethnic and social groups in Pakistan trace their ancestry to Iran. Benazir, Murtaza, Sanam, and Shah Navaz were half Kurdish Iranian from her mother's side. Former Chief Martial Law Administrators Army Commander-in-Chiefs General Yahya Khan traces his ancestry to a soldier who arrived in 1738 with Nader Shah of Persia.[7]Since 1979
“Az Zabur-i-Ajam” poem written by Pakistan's national poet Allama Iqbal was a major source of inspiration and motivation for many young people taking part in the 1979 Revolution. Scholars in Tehran University recalled that it was common during the revolution days to see people gathering in a park or corner to listen to someone reciting Iqbal’s Persian poetry.[8]After 1971 Indo-Pakistani War, new Prime minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto immediately withdrew Pakistan from CENTO and SEATO after Bhutto thought that the military alliances failed to protect or appropriately assist Pakistan and instead alienated the Soviet Union. After the Iranian Revolution and overthrow of Shah of Iran, Ayatollah Khomeini withdrew Iran from CENTO and dissociated itself from the United States and US-friendly countries such as Pakistan in response to their support of the previous Government. By 1979 Pakistan under President Zia ul Haq was close allies again with the US and came under Sphere of influence a position Pakistan has remained in since . Despite close ties under the Shah, Pakistan was among the first countries to recognize the new Iranian government, and attempted to rebuild ties. In 1980s, the Soviet Union invaded the fragile Afghan Soviet Socialist Republic (Afghan SSR) which improved the Pakistan-Iran ties and coordinated their covert support for the Afghan mujahideen.
During the 1990s, their relations were dominated by the Taliban in Afghanistan, and Iran's material support of Shiite paramilitary organizations in Pakistan in response to Saudi financial and logistical support to an Anti-Shiite Sentiment.
From 1991 until the fall Taliban government, Pakistan and Iran supported opposite sides through proxy measure during the Afghanistan war. Pakistan supported the Pashtun Taliban while Iran supported the Tajik Northern Alliance. When the Taliban took Kabul in 1996, they executed many Iranian residents, including several diplomats. Shia-Sunni gun battles in Pakistan became even more coordinated and strained relations further. The Taliban succeeded and took over the city of Mazar-i-Sharif in 1998 and massacred thousands of Shias, according to Amnesty International. The situation worsened after Iranian leaders accused Afghanistan's ruling Taliban of holding hostage 11 Iranian diplomats, 35 Iranian truck drivers and an Iranian journalist. Iran responded by massing over 300,000 troops at the Afghan border and threatened to attack the Taliban government, which Iran never recognized. This strained relations with Pakistan, as the Taliban were seen as Pakistan's key allies.
In the Balochistan region in the southeast of Iran and in the southwest of Pakistan, the Balochi people travel regularly, often without visas, causing considerable problems for the Iranian national guards as well as Pakistan's border security force (Frontier Corps Balochistan). Since 2010 there has been an increase in friendship between the two nations with senior figures from both governments meeting each other as both countries work together to find a regional solution to the Afghan War and progress on talks over a proposed gas pipeline and an ECO Container Train line.
Trade
Relations between Iran and Pakistan improved after the removal of the Taliban in 2002, but regional rivalry continues. Sunni-majority Pakistan sides with fellow Sunni Muslim Saudi Arabia in its competition with Shiite majority Iran for influence across the broader Islamic world, although Pakistan is far less ideological than either country, and is more concerned with influence in Central Asia rather than in the Middle East. Iran considers northern and western Afghanistan as its sphere of influence since its population is Persian Dari speaking. Pakistan considers southern and eastern Afghanistan as its sphere of influence since it is Pashto and Baloch speaking like the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Pakistani Baluchistan, respectively. Pakistan expressed concern over India's plan to build a highway linking the southern Afghanistan city of Kandahar to Zahidan, since it will reduce Afghanistan's dependence on Pakistan to the benefit of Iran.Both the countries joined the Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO), a derivative of Regional Co-operation for Development (RCD), which was established in 1964. The ECO groups neighboring Muslim states recently expanded to Central Asia. As part of this regional organizational framework both countries continue to cooperate on trade and investment.
In 2005, Iran and Pakistan had conducted US$500 million of trade. The land border at Taftan is the conduit for trade in electricity and oil. Iran is extending its railway network towards Taftan but the gauges are of different sizes, 1435 mm and 1676 mm respectively.
The Iran-Pakistan-India pipeline is currently under discussion. It could be a major development between all three nations. India has been pressured by the US not to go ahead with the deal and appears to have heeded American policy after it signed the US-India nuclear deal. In addition, international sanctions on Iran due to its controversial nuclear program could derail the project altogether.
Trade between the two countries has increased by £1.4 billion in 2009. The Iranian governor general says that President Ahmadinejad remains keen to strengthen ties between the two countries.[9]
Tehran has provided 50 million euros for laying of 170 kilometer transmission line for the import of 1000MW of electricity from Iran (2009). Pakistan is already importing 34MW of electricity daily from Iran. The imported electricity is much cheaper than the electricity produced by the Independent Power Producers (IPPs) because Iran subsidizes oil and gas which feed the power plants.[10]
Iran has also offered to construct a motorway between Iran and Pakistan connecting the two countries.[11]
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