Iran, Pakistan to set up joint border ‘reaction force’

Iran's President Hassan Rouhani and visiting Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan agreed on Monday to set up a joint border "reaction force" to counter terrorism, state television reported.

"We agreed to create a joint rapid reaction force at the borders for combatting terrorism," Rouhani was quoted as saying, following months of increased tensions over attacks on both sides of the two countries' frontier.

Earlier, Pakistan's Prime Minister Imran Khan arrived in Iran on Sunday to discuss security and regional issues, Iranian state TV reported, a day after Islamabad urged Tehran to act against militants behind killings in Pakistan's Baluchistan province.

A new umbrella group representing various insurgent groups operating in Baluchistan claimed responsibility for an attack on Thursday when 14 passengers were killed after being kidnapped from buses in the province, which borders Iran.

Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi said on Saturday the training and logistical camps of the new alliance that carried out the attack were inside Iran and called for Iran to take action against the insurgents.

Iranian TV said that Khan began his two-day visit to Iran, the first since he took office last August, with a stop in the northeastern holy Shi'ite city of Mashhad.

Khan will meet Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and President Hassan Rouhani, as well as other officials, in Tehran on Monday.

"During the meetings, improving bilateral ties, border security, countering terrorism and regional issues will be discussed," state TV said.

Relations between Iran and Pakistan have been strained in recent months, with both sides accusing each other of not doing enough to stamp out militants allegedly sheltering across the border.

Agence France-Presse