Pakistan will study Iran's initiative on creating a naval alliance in the Indian Ocean, aimed at ensuring collective maritime security, official representative of the Pakistani Foreign Ministry Mumtaz Zahra Baloch told a briefing.
Rear Admiral Shahram Irani, Iran's naval commander-in-chief, had earlier proposed an alliance in the Indian Ocean zone comprising Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, India and Pakistan.
“We have seen that statement and we will examine any proposal when it comes to Pakistan," The Express Tribune quoted the diplomat as saying Friday.
This proposal would be one of the most important regional security initiatives after the China-mediated rapprochement between Saudi Arabia and Iran in March, according to Pakistani media.
On March 10, Tehran and Riyadh representatives at talks in Beijing agreed to restore diplomatic relations and reopen embassies within two months.
Relations between Saudi Arabia and Iran deteriorated in March 2015 with the start of the Saudi-led coalition's military operation in Yemen against the Ansar Allah (Houthis) movement. In January 2016, after the Saudi embassy in Tehran was attacked by protesters against the operation, the kingdom broke off diplomatic relations with the Islamic republic.
GSV "Russia - Islamic World"
Based on materials from TASS