Pakistan, Azerbaijan affirm commitment to expanding ties

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan and Azerbaijan have affirmed the commitment to further expanding mutually beneficial cooperation in the areas of bilateral interest, especially energy, trade, connectivity, defence and people-to-people linkages.

This was discussed during a meeting between President Asif Ali Zardari and visiting President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev at the Aiwan-e-Sadr on Friday.

According to the announcement of the media wing of Aiwan-e-Sadr, welcoming the President of Azerbaijan, President Asif Ali Zardari said that both countries enjoyed excellent relations and had a great scope of further improving ties in various areas of mutual interest. He underlined the need for more regular engagements between the people and businessmen of Pakistan and Azerbaijan to cement bilateral ties. He highlighted the importance of Gwadar port, saying that Central Asian Countries and Azerbaijan could benefit from it for promoting regional trade, connectivity and tourism, besides bringing shared economic prosperity to the region.

The president welcomed the signing of Memoranda of Understanding (MoUs) between Pakistan and Azerbaijan, adding that the MoUs would give a new impetus to bilateral cooperation in the fields of trade, commerce, tourism, mines and minerals, science and technology, law and justice and culture.

Speaking on the occasion, President Aliyev said that Pakistan and Azerbaijan enjoyed a high frequency of people-to-people exchanges and both countries needed to promote business-to-business relations for enhancing economic relations. He stated that Pakistan and Azerbaijan could also explore the possibility of working together in the renewable energy sector. Later, President Zardari hosted a banquet in honour of President Aliyev and his delegation, which was also attended by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, federal ministers, parliamentarians, diplomats and journalists. The president expressed his warm greetings to the people of Azerbaijan and reassured Pakistan’s unwavering support for Azerbaijan.