Baku, Islamabad translating friendly relations into strong economic partnership
The Azerbaijan-Pakistan partnership is one of the steadfast ties in the world, one that continues growing even stronger year on year despite significant changes on the global political platforms.
The Azerbaijan-Pakistan partnership is one of the steadfast ties in the world, one that continues growing even stronger year on year despite significant changes on the global political platforms.
The Azerbaijan-Pakistan “allweather friendship" covers various facets of the economic and political ties. Pakistan’s Premier Muhammad Nawaz Sharif paid an official visit to Baku "to enhance this friendship and strategic ties and translate the friendly bilateral relations into strong economic partnership".
Pakistan is one of the closest friends of Azerbaijan, said Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev as he welcomed the Pakistani PM in Baku on October 14.
The Pakistani prime minister’s official visit to Azerbaijan shows that a very close cooperation continues between the two countries, added President Aliyev.
Further noting that Azerbaijan and Pakistan intend to develop their relations in various spheres, President Aliyev said the two countries have very close political ties.
The Azerbaijani president said he and the Pakistani PM had discussions on the high-level political cooperation between the two countries. He noted that Azerbaijan and Pakistan should develop their cooperation in economy and investments, boost their trade turnover, pay great attention to humanitarian issues and have a very broad and effective cooperation.
Nawaz Sharif, in turn, thanked President Aliyev and said it is great honor for him to visit Azerbaijan.
Baku has become a beautiful city in the past 10-15 years, said the Pakistani PM, adding that it is amazing that such a progress was achieved in less than 15 years.
At the press conference after the meeting, President Aliyev said the two countries support each other on all international issues.
Azerbaijan fully supports the settlement of the Kashmir problem based on the relevant resolutions of the UN Security Council, as well as Pakistan fully supports the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict based on the relevant UN Security Council resolutions, the president said.
Islamabad backed Azerbaijan during and after the NagornoKarabakh War and it is the only country that does not recognize Armenia. Pakistan also adopted a resolution strongly condemning the genocide against the civilian population of Khojaly, which was committed by Armenian armed forces.
President Aliyev said that unfortunately, these resolutions, which were adopted decades ago, are not fulfilled and this is a proof of a double standards, because, sometimes, the resolutions of the UN Security Council are fulfilled in several days, or even in several hours, but when it comes to Azerbaijan, it takes such a long time. President Aliyev further said that political contacts between the two countries stand at a very high level, adding, however, the two countries should work even much in the economic sphere, investment making and creation of mutually beneficial joint ventures. The president went on saying that Azerbaijan and Pakistan can work jointly to launch production in defense industry, noting that a significant part of the discussions with Nawaz Sharif was dedicated to the cooperation in this sphere. The Azerbaijani president noted that Pakistan has a very developed defense industry, and that the sides have thoroughly discussed the cooperation in this sphere. The president reminded that Azerbaijan has been for nearly 10 years developing its defense industry, adding that the country wants to buy the most modern and high-tech weapons from Pakistan. President Aliyev further touched upon other sectors of the economy, particularly agriculture and tourism.
Ilham Aliyev expressed hope that once the electronic visa system is implemented in Azerbaijan, it will be very easy for the Pakistani citizens to come to Azerbaijan and the Azerbaijani citizens will enjoy the same opportunities in traveling to Pakistan.
The president further said the sides also had discussions on the opening joint pharmaceutical enterprises in Azerbaijan, which Ilham Aliyev considers very developed in Pakistan, noting that Azerbaijan wants to develop this sphere too, as it is mainly dependent on imports.
The president said he believes that transportation is one of the issues to be dealt with in the future by the two countries, as the new transportation projects implemented by Azerbaijan jointly with its neighbors will create new opportunities for transportation from Asia to Europe and from north to south, and will open new routes.
Nawaz Sharif, for his part, noted that Pakistan believes that regional and global issues should be resolved through international law, peace and dialogue, adding that Pakistan is committed to peace and principles of development for the sake of peace, despite the aggression of other circles.
Mutual support between Azerbaijan and Pakistan on the Kashmir and Nagorno-Karabakh conflicts proves the close understanding between the two countries, said Nawaz Sharif.
He noted that Pakistan has a clear position on the NagornoKarabakh conflict, adding that the country stands for the liberation of all the occupied Azerbaijani lands, the withdrawal of Armenian armed forces from the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding districts, and the return of refugees and internally displaced persons to their motherlands.
During the meetings, the two sides agreed to develop relations in the spheres of economy, investments, trade, energy, defense, agriculture, industry, science, culture and others, according to him.
As part of the visit to Baku, Prime Minister of Pakistan also visited the Parliament to meet with its speaker Ogtay Asadov, where the sides exchanged views on the development of friendly and fraternal relations between the two countries.