Islamabad:

Pakistan and Iran pledged on Monday to improve dialogue and exchange liaison officers as both countries sought to ease tensions as deadly cross-border attacks threatened diplomatic ties.

Tit-for-tat attacks took place earlier this month along the porous border between the two countries in Balochistan province, exacerbating regional tensions fueled by Israel’s war with Hamas.

During a visit to Pakistan on Monday, Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdullahian said the hostilities cannot be described as a “crisis” as relations between the two countries have always been strong.

“We will naturally try to overcome this problem,” Amir-Abdullahian told a news conference.

“Through joint cooperation between Islamabad and Tehran, we will not let terrorism jeopardize our relationship.”

Pakistani Foreign Minister Jalil Abbas Gilani said in the same briefing that the two sides agreed to strengthen dialogue at all levels and would accelerate plans to dispatch liaison officers to each other’s countries.

“We managed to bring the situation back to normal in the shortest possible time,” he said.

“Radical goals”

On January 16, Tehran struck an anti-Iranian group in Pakistan, the same week that the country’s military targeted Iraq and Syria.

Two days later, Pakistan responded in kind, carrying out pre-dawn raids on “militant targets” in Iran’s Sistan-Balochistan province, one of the few predominantly Sunni areas in Shiite-dominated Iran. One of the predominantly Muslim areas.

Unrest continues involving cross-border drug smuggling gangs, ethnic Baluch rebels and jihadists.

Pakistan said Iran’s initial attack killed at least two children, a move that drew sharp condemnation from Islamabad and the government recalled its ambassador to Tehran and blocked the Iranian envoy from returning to his post.

Tehran also summoned Islamabad’s charge d’affaires over the attack in Pakistan, which killed at least nine people.

However, the two countries announced last week their decision to de-escalate the situation and allow their ambassadors to return to their posts.

Gunmen in Iran’s Sistan-Balochistan province killed nine people on Saturday, whom Islamabad’s ambassador identified as Pakistanis.

So far, no organization has claimed responsibility.

Earlier reciprocal airstrikes by Iran and Islamabad have alarmed the United States and the European Union, which have urged restraint, while China has offered to mediate.

But both foreign ministers insisted on Monday that strong long-standing ties and respect for each other’s borders ensured a swift outcome.

Pakistani Prime Minister Gilani said that good relations between Pakistan and Islamabad are “an important source of stability for the entire region.”

He said both sides agreed to accelerate the development of border markets and further encourage trade and cultural exchanges.

The two sides will also establish a new ministerial-level “consultation mechanism” and plan to hold regular meetings in each other’s capitals.

“Our discussions focused on all issues of common concern,” he said.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)