Pakistan opens cultural center in Mashhad

Pakistan opened a cultural center in the northeastern Iranian city of Mashhad and took a further step in introducing its cultural characteristics to Iran, AVA Diplomatic reports.

Pakistan opened the center at the commemoration ceremony of Founder of Pakistan Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah at the Faculty of Literature of Ferdowsi University of Mashhad on Tuesday.

“Today is a very auspicious day for me because I attended the ceremony at Ferdowsi University of Mashhad to commemorate Jinnah and now I’m witnessing the opening of Pakistan’s cultural center,” Pakistan’s Ambassador to Iran Riffat Masood said.

“Jinnah understood Islam and wanted it with modernity, and borrowed this thought from Pakistani poet Iqbal Lahoori.”

She stated that the new center will help develop cultural and economic ties between Iran and Pakistan.

“Although one of the most important tasks of the consulates is to expand political ties, but developing cultural and economic ties is important as well because they help the two nations get closer to each other,” added Masood in Mashhad.

Pakistani general consul in Mashhad, Irfan Mahmood Bokhari, who was also present at the inauguration ceremony, said his country’s cultural center has been built on a piece of land as big as 400 square hectares and includes a museum, literature room and a space to present Pakistani souvenirs.