Pakistan, Azerbaijan vow to deepen relations

Islamabad:Azerbaijan's Independence Day was marked at a hotel here with participants highlighting the potential for support and cooperation between the south-western Asian republic and Pakistan for their development.

The event hosted by Ambassador of Azerbaijan Khazar Farhadov brought together senior government functionaries, diplomats, businesspersons, and journalists. Federal education minister Rana Tanveer Hussain, who was in attendance as the chief guest, cut the Azerbaijan Independence Day cake along with other guests.

He said the Pakistan-Azerbaijan ties had expanded in the fields of defence production, tourism, defence, education, and culture over the years and would grow further. Hussain said his ministry was working to enhance educational cooperation between the two countries, especially in skilled and technical education.

The ambassador of Azerbaijan thanked participants for becoming part of his country's Independence Day celebrations declaring the day a "proud chapter in the nation's history." He said Azerbaijan was established as the first democratic secular republic in the Muslim East on May 28, 1918, but its occupation by the Bolsheviks in 1920 led to the death of the democratic republic.

The envoy, however, said after the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991, the people of Azerbaijan re-established their independent state building upon the traditions of their erstwhile republic. He said Azerbaijani leader Heydar Aliyev, who assumed power in 1993, played a vital role in strengthening the country's socioeconomic development, while the current president, Ilham Aliyev, was carrying his mission forward.

Farhadov said Pakistan was one of the first countries to recognise the independence of Azerbaijan and from then on, both countries were bound by a strong friendship, brotherhood, and strategic partnership based on historical and cultural roots.

He said brotherly ties between the two countries were deepening, developing, and strengthening, especially in the domains of tourism, connectivity, and trade. "We have supported each other both bilaterally and within international organisations and this support and cooperation will grow,” he said.

The ambassador said direct flights between Azerbaijan and Pakistan, which had been operational since 2022, as well as the inclusion of Pakistan in Azerbaijan's online ASAN visa system had significantly boosted tourism in the country with the number of Pakistani tourists coming to 50,000 last year.