Pakistan chief of staff brought up RAW spy activities to Iran president

Pakistani armed forces chief of staff Raheel Sharif maintained that he brought up the topic of Indian spy network Research Analysis Wing (RAW) to Iran president Hassan Rouhani during the head of state's landmark visit to his country. RAW's alleged operations on Iranian soil had caused no small concern in Pakistan. Rouhani, however, said that the  sensitive topic did not come up during his meeting with Sharif.

According to The Diplomat, the public relations arm of Pakistan's military first broke the news. Shareef apparently urged the Iranian president to prohibit members of the Indian espionage network, some of whom had set up shop in Balochistan, to stop using Iran soil as a base. Balochistan is the bordernline between Pakistan and India which had seem skirmishes and conflicts between the two countries almost escalate into a major conflict. Shareef's request was made to make safe Pakistan's stability.

Interestingly, Rouhani disagreed with the very public statement, issuing his own that, "Whenever Iran comes closer to Pakistan such rumours [of  a discussion about espionage activities] are spread." 

Geo News adds that Rouhani maintains that Iran has always maintained brotherly ties with both Pakistan and Iran, perhaps hinting that he did not want his country to side with one against the other. He also reiterated that he was looking forward to discussing more positive topics such as cooperation in the fields of education, health, and technology. While Rouhani praised the Pakistani military's bravery and dedication, he also debunked news reports that he had discussed the arrest of RAW agent Kul Bhushan Yadav. 

The News Tribe says that Yadav himself claims that his operatives infilitrate Pakistan through India and Iran. Prior to the state visit of Rouhani, and following Yadav's disclosure, the Pakistani government had issued a statement saying it will send a legal notice to Iran asking them to disallow Indian and other foreign spies from using their cities as an entry point to Pakistan.

Tags

Pakistan, Iran, Pakistan-Indian conflict, Indian spies. Research Analysis Wing, RAW, Raheel Sharif, Hassan Rouhani

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