Pakistan Minister for Ports and Shipping Kamran Michael has said that fast passenger ferry services from Karachi and Gwadar ports to the Iranian port city of Chabahar will be started in March this year.
According to Pakistan state news agency ‘APP’, the minister said Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif had ordered that the project be launched soon.
He said the service would facilitate people wanting to visit religious places in Iran and Iraq. “We are going to start this service in the larger national interest and are working with ministries to make this possible,” he added.
Regarding requirements of Iranian side, the minister said that it would be better for the governments of the two countries to sign a document for executing the project. “It was the priority of the government to provide maximum security to passengers and mostly the Pakistani pilgrims and it would be discussed thoroughly.”
The minister said the project was initiated to provide a journey to pilgrims, adding that in past terrorist attacks on buses of pilgrims had claimed many lives. He said such attacks were damaging the image of Pakistan.
