Pakistani Prime Minister Cuts Short Davos Visit Amid Tensions With Iran

© AFP 2023 BRYAN R. SMITHPakistani Prime Minister Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar addresses the 78th United Nations General Assembly at UN headquarters in New York City on September 22, 2023.
Pakistani Prime Minister Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar addresses the 78th United Nations General Assembly at UN headquarters in New York City on September 22, 2023. - Sputnik Africa, 1920, 18.01.2024
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MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Pakistani Caretaker Prime Minister Anwaar ul Haq Kakar cut short his visit to the Davos World Economic Forum and is returning to Pakistan ahead of schedule, amid straining tensions between Pakistan and Iran, Pakistani Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mumtaz Zahra Baloch said on Thursday.
Iran carried out missile and drone strikes against Jaish al-Adl terrorists in Pakistan's Balochistan region on Tuesday, to which Pakistan responded with overnight precision strikes against "terrorist hideouts" in Iran's Sistan and Baluchestan on Thursday.
"The Prime Minister of Pakistan Anwaar ul Haq Kakar, who is currently in Davos to attend the 54th annual meeting of the World Economic Forum, has decided to cut short his visit in view of the ongoing developments," Baloch told a briefing.
The Pakistani Foreign Ministry said in a statement earlier in the day that Pakistan respects Iran's sovereignty and territorial integrity and carried out the strikes with the sole purpose of defending its own security and national interests, echoing the tone of the Iranian Foreign Ministry's statement after the strikes by Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps on Pakistani territory.
IRGC said their Tuesday strikes against terrorist positions in Pakistan's Erbil were in response to a deadly bombing attack carried out by Jaish al-Adl against a police station in the Iranian city of Rask in December. This was the first missile strike by the Iranian armed forces on Pakistani territory. Pakistan strongly condemned the Iranian attack and on Wednesday recalled its ambassador from Tehran, also indicating that the Iranian ambassador would not be able to continue his diplomatic mission in Islamabad for some time.
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